THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

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GIFT 

>F  MAY  TRiAT  MORRISON 

in  memory  of 
ALEXANDER  F.  MORRISON 


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** 


THE 


"WORKS 


OF 


CHARLES    SUMNER. 


Venict  fortasse  aliud  tempus,  dignius  nostro,  quo,  debellatis  odiis, 
Yeritas  triumphabit.    IIoc  mecum  opta,  lector,  et  Tale. 

LEIBNITZ 


VOL.    I. 


BOSTON: 
LEE    AND    SHEPARD. 

1870. 


I  according  to  Act  of  CoofreM,  la  the  year  1870,  by 

CHARLES     8CMXER, 
In  the  Clerk '•  Office  of  the  DUtricl  Court  for  the  Dtotrict  of  MMMcbiuetU. 


UKIVUUITY  fnta:  WKLCM,  BICELOW,  ft  Co., 
CAMHIDO. 


I?  70 

M\ 


Believe  me  still,  as  I  have  ever  been, 

The  steadfast  lover  of  my  fellow-men ; 

My  weakness,  love  of  holy  liberty ; 

My  crime,  the  wish  that  all  mankind  were  free : 

Free,  not  by  blood  ;  redeemed,  but  not  by  crime ; 

Each  fetter  broken,  but  in  God's  good  time. 

WHITTIEB. 


433494 


NOTE. 

Is  this  collection  the  arrangement  is  strictly  chronological. 
Every  article  will  be  found  according  to  its  date,  without  ref 
erence  to  the  subject  or  occasion,  thus  showing  the  succession 
of  efforts  as  they  occurred. 


CONTENTS    OF   VOLUME    I. 


PAGI 

THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  An  Oration  before  the  Au 
thorities  of  the  City  of  Boston,  July  4,  1845 6 

TRIBUTE  OF  FRIENDSHIP  :  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.    Article  from 

the  Boston  Daily  Advertiser,  September  16,  1845    .        .        .        .133 

THE  WRONG  OF  SLAVERY.  Speech  at  a  Public  Meeting  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  Boston,  against  the  Admission  of  Texas  as  a  Slave  State, 
November  4,  1845  ..........  149 

EQUAL  RIGHTS  IN  THE  LECTURE-ROOM.    Letter  to  the  Committee 

of  the  New  Bedford  Lyceum,  November  29,  1845   .        .        .        .     160 

PRISONS  AND  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  Article  from  the  Christian  Ex 
aminer,  January,  1846  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  163 

THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME.    Lecture  before  the  Boston  Lyceum, 

delivered  in  the  Federal  Street  Theatre,  February  18,  1846    .        .    184 

BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  LATE  JOHN  PICKERING.    Article 

in  the  Law  Reporter  of  June,  1846  .        .        .        .        .        .        .    214 

THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST,  THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST. 
An  Oration  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  at  their  Anniversary,  August  27,  1846  ....  241 

ANTISLAVERY  DUTIES  OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  Speech  at  the  Whig 
State  Convention  of  Massachusetts,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  Sep 
tember  23,  1846 .  .  .803 

WRONGFUL  DECLARATION  OF  WAB  AGAINST  MEXICO.  Letter  to 
Hon.  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  Representative  in  Congress  from  Bos 
ton,  October  25,  1846  .  .  . 817 

RKFUSAL  TO  BE  A  CANDIDATE  FOR  CONGRESS.  Notice  in  the  Bos 
ton  Papers,  October  31,  1846 330 


VI  CONTEXTS. 

PAOI 
SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR.     Speech  at  a  Public  Meeting 

in  the  Treinout  Temple,  Boston,  November  6,  1846         .        .        .833 

INVALIDITY  or  KNUSTMKXTS  in  TUB  MASSACHUSETTS  RKGIMENT 
or  VOLUNTEERS  MB  TUB  MEXICAN  WAR.  Argument  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  January,  1847  .  .  .  862 

WITHDRAWAL  or  AMERICAN  TROOPS  rROM  MEXICO.    Speech  at  a 

Public  Meeting  in  Fmieuil  Hall,  Boston,  February  4, 1847     .        .    874 

WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.    A  Lecture  before  the 

Button  Mercantile  Library  Association,  February  17,  1847    .       .    888 

RIVAL  SYSTEMS  or  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.    Speech  before  the  Boston 

Prison  Discipline  Society,  st  the  Tremont  Temple,  June  18,  1847 .    486 

THE  LATE  JOSEPH  LEWIS  STACK  POLE,  ESQ.    Article  in  the  Boston 

Daily  Advertiser,  July  28,  1847 638 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 


AN  ORATION  BEFORE  THE  AUTHORITIES  OF  THE  CITY 
OF  BOSTON,  JULY  4,  1845. 


O,  yet  a  nobler  task  awaits  thy  hand, 

(For  what  can  war  but  endless  war  still  breed?) 

Till  truth  and  right  from  violence  be  freed. 

MILTON,  Sonnet  to  Fairfax. 


T  •'.'«  ..  Pax  optima  rernm 

Quas  homini  novitse  datum  est;  pax  ana  triumphis 
InnumerU  potior;  pax  custodire  salutem 
Et  elves  ttquare  potent. 

Siui-s  ITAUCUB,  Pmiea,  Lib.  XL  TV.  692-696. 

Bed  majoris  e>t  gloria:  ipta  btUa  verbo  occiden  qoam  homines  ferro, 
et  acquircre  vel  obtincre  pacem  pace,  non  bcllo.  —  ACOCSTINI  Epiatola 
CCLXII.,  •"/  Darittm  Comilem. 

Certainly,  if  all  who  look  upon  themselves  as  men,  not  so  ranch  from 
the  shape  of  their  bodies  as  because  they  are  endowed  with  reason,  would 
listen  awhile  unto  Christ's  wholesome  and  peaceable  decrees,  and  not, 
puffed  up  with  arrogance  and  conceit,  rather  believe  their  own  opinions 
than  his  admonitions,  the  whole  world  long  ago  (turning  the  use  of 
iron  into  milder  works)  should  have  lived  in  most  quiet  tranquillity,  and 
have  met  together  in  a  firm  and  indissoluble  league  of  most  safe  con 
cord. —  ARXOBII-S  AFER,  Adcmut  Gentet,  Lib.  I.  c.  6. 

And  so  for  the  first  time  [three  hundred  years  after  the  Christian  era] 
the  meek  and  peaceful  Jesus  became  a  God  of  Battle,  and  the  cross,  the 
holy  sign  of  Christian  redemption,  a  banner  of  bloody  strife.  This  ir 
reconcilable  incongruity  between  the  symbol  of  universal  peace  and  the 
horrors  of  war,  in  my  judgment,  is  conclusive  against  the  miraculous 
or  supernatural  character  of  the  transaction  [the  vision  of  Constantine]. 
— I  was  agreeably  surprised  to  find  that  Moshcim  concurred  in  these 
sentiments,  for  which  I  will  readily  encounter  the  charge  of  Quakerism. 
—  MII.M  v\.  History  of  Christianity,  Book  III.  chap.  1. 

When  yon  sec  fighting,  be  peaceable;  for  a  peaceable  disposition  shuts 
the  door  of  contention.  Oppose  kindness  to  pcrverseness ;  the  sharp 
sword  will  not  cut  soft  silk.  By  using  sweet  words  and  gentleness  you 
may  lead  an  elephant  with  a  hair.  —  SAADI,  T7ie  Gulutan,  translated  by 
Francis  GUdwin,  Chap.  IIL  Tale  28. 

Si  Ton  von*  disait  que  tous  les  chats  d'un  grand  pays  sc  sont  assem 
ble*  par  millions  dans  une  plaine,  et  qu'apres  avoir  miaulc  tout  leur 
saoul,  Us  M  sont  jctes  avec  furcnr  les  nns  sur  les  antres,  et  ont  joue*  en 
semble  de  la  dent  et  dc  la  gride,  que  dc  cctte  melee  il  cst  dcmviirc'  de 
part  et  d'autre  ncuf  a  dix  millc  chats  sur  la  place,  qui  ont  infectl  1'air 
a  dix  lienes  dc  la  par  leur  puanteur,  nc  diricz-vous  pas,  "  Voili  le  plus 
abominable  nabbat  dont  on  ait  jamais  out'  parler  "  ?  Et  si  les  loups 
en  faiaaicnt  dc  mcmc,  qncls  hnrlements  !  quellc  bouchcric !  Et  si  les  utis 
on  les  autres  vous  disaient  i/w'iY*  aimrnt  la  gloirt,  .  .  .  .  ne  riricz-vous 
pas  de  tout  votrc  co?nr  de  1'ingennite'  de  ces  pauvres  betes?  —  LA 
,  Let  Caractcret :  Dtt  Jtyematt*. 


He  was  disposed  to  dissent  from  the  maxim,  which  had  of  late  years 
received  very  general  assent,  that  the  best  security  for  the  continuance 
of  peace  was  to  be  prepared  for  war.  That  was  a  maxim  which  might 
have  been  applied  to  the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  to  society  in  a  com 
paratively  barbarous  and  uncivilized  state Men,  when  they  adopted 

such  a  maxim,  and  made  large  preparations  in  time  of  peace  that  would 
be  sufficient  in  time  of  war,  were  apt  to  be  influenced  by  the  desire  to 
put  their  efficiency  to  the  test,  that  all  their  great  preparations  and  the 
result  of  their  toil  and  expense  might  not  be  thrown  away.  —  EAKL  OF 
ABERDEEN,  Hansard's  Parliamentary  Debates,  July  20,  1849. 

Bflhtm  para,  si  pacem  veils,  was  a  maxim  regarded  by  many  as  con 
taining  an  incontestable  truth.  It  was  one,  in  his  opinion,  to  be  received 

with  great  caution,  and  admitting  of  much  qualification We 

should  best  consult  the  true  interests  of  the  country  by  husbanding  our 
resources  in  a  time  of  peace,  and,  instead  of  a  lavish  expenditure  on  all 
the  means  of  defence,  by  placing  some  trust  in  the  latent  and  dormant 
energies  of  the  nation.  —  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL,  Hansard's  Parliamentary 
Debates,  March  12,  1850. 

Let  us  terminate  this  disastrous  system  of  rival  expenditure,  and  mu 
tually  agree,  with  no  hypocrisy,  but  in  a  manner  and  under  circum 
stances  which  can  admit  of  no  doubt,  —  by  a  reduction  of  armaments,  — 
that  peace  is  really  our  policy.  —  MB.  D'!SRAELI,  Hansard's  Parlia 
mentary  Debates,  July  21,  1859. 

All  high  titles  of  honor  come  hitherto  from  fighting.  Your  Herzog 
(Duke,  Dux)  is  Leader  of  Armies ;  your  Earl  (Jarl)  is  Strong  Man  ; 
your  Marshal,  Cavalry  Horseshoer.  A  Millennium,  or  Reign  of  Peace 
and  Wisdom,  having  from  of  old  been  prophesied,  and  becoming  now 
daily  more  and  more  indubitable,  may  it  not  be  apprehended  that  such 
fighting  titles  will  cease  to  be  palatable,  and  new  and  higher  need  to 
be  devised  ?  —  CARLYLE,  Sartor  Resartus,  Book  III.  chap.  7. 

After  the  memorable  conflict  of  June,  1848,  in  which,  as  Chefde  Ba- 
taillon,  he  [Ary  Scheffer]  had  shown  a  capacity  for  military  conduct  not 
less  remarked  than  his  co'ol  courage,  General  Changarnier,  then  com 
manding  the  National  Guard  of  Paris,  tendered  to  Scheffer's  accept 
ance  the  cross  of  Commandeur.  He  replied,  "  Had  this  honorable  dis 
tinction  been  offered  to  me  in  my  quality  of  Artist,  and  as  a  recognition 
of  the  merit  of  my  works,  I  should  receive  it  with  deference  and  sat 
isfaction.  But  to  carry  about  me  a  decoration  reminding  me  only 
of  the  horrors  of  civil  war  is  what  I  cannot  consent  to  do."  —  ARY 
SCHEFFER,  Life  by  Mrs.  Grote,  Appendix. 


ADDITIONAL  examples  and  illn.«trations  have  been  introdaced  into  this 
Oration  since  its  publication,  bat  the  argument  and  substance  remain  the 
same.  It  was  at  the  time  the  occasion  of  considerable  controversy,  and 
many  were  disturbed  by  what  Mr.  Sumner  called  his  Declaration  of  War 
agauut  War.  This  showed  itself  at  the  dinner  in  Fain-nil  Hall  immediately 
after  the  delivery.  There  was  friendly  dissent  also,  as  appears  from  the 
letters  of  Judge  Story  and  Mr.  Prescott,  which  will  be  found  in  the  biogra 
phies  of  those  eminent  persons.  A  letter  from  John  A.  Andrew,  afterwards 
the  distinguished  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  shows  the  completeness  of  his 
sympathy.  "  You  will  allow  me  to  say,  I  hope,"  he  writes,  "  that  I  have 
read  the  Oration  with  a  satisfaction  only  equalled  by  that  with  which  I 
heard  you  on  the  4th  July.  And  while  I  thank  yon  a  thousand  times  for 
the  choice  you  made  of  a  topic,  as  well  as  for  the  fidelity  and  brilliant 
ability  which  you  brought  to  its  illustration,  (both,  to  my  mind,  defying 
the  most  carping  criticism,)  I  cannot  help  expressing  also  my  gratitude  to 
Providence,  that  here,  in  our  city  of  Boston,  one  has  at  last  stepped  for 
ward  to  consecrate  to  celestial  hopes  the  day  —  the  great  day  —  which 
Americans  have  at  best  heretofore  held  sacred  only  to  memory." 

The  Oration  was  noticed  extensively  at  home  and  abroad.  Two  or  more 
editions  were  printed  by  the  City  Government,  one  by  the  booksellers, 
Meters.  W.  D.  Ticknor  &  Co.,  and  several  by  the  American  Peace  Society, 
which  has  recently  issued  another,  making  a  small  volume.  Another 
edition  appeared  in  London.  Portions  have  been  printed  and  circulated  as 
tract*.  There  was  also  an  abridgment  in  Philadelphia,  edited  by  Professor 
Charles  D.  Cleveland,  and  another  in  Liverpool,  by  Mr.  Richard  Kathbone. 


ORATION. 


IN  accordance  with  uninterrupted  usage,  on  this  Sab 
bath  of  the  Nation,  we  have  put  aside  our  daily 
cares,  and  seized  a  respite  from  the  never-ending  toils 
of  life,  to  meet  in  gladness  and  congratulation,  mindful 
of  the  blessings  transmitted  from  the  Past,  mindful  also, 
I  trust,  of  our  duties  to  the  Present  and  the  Future. 

All  hearts  turn  first  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Republic. 
Their  venerable  forms  rise  before  us,  in  the  procession 
of  successive  generations.  They  come  from  the  frozen 
rock  of  Plymouth,  from  the  wasted  bands  of  Raleigh, 
from  the  heavenly  companionship  of  Penn,  from  the 
anxious  councils  of  the  Revolution,  —  from  all  those 
fields  of  sacrifice,  where,  in  obedience  to  the  spirit  of 
their  age,  they  sealed  their  devotion  to  duty  with  their 
blood.  They  say  to  us,  their  children,  "  Cease  to  vaunt 
what  you  do,  and  what  has  been  done  for  you  Learn 
to  walk  meekly  and  to  think  humbly.  Cultivate  habits 
of  self-sacrifice.  Never  aim  at  what  is  not  RIGHT,  per 
suaded  that  without  this  every  possession  and  all  knowl 
edge  will  become  an  evil  and  a  shame.  And  may  these 
words  of  ours  be  ever  in  your  minds  !  Strive  to  increase 
the  inheritance  we  have  bequeathed  to  you,  —  bearing  in 
mind  always,  that,  if  we  excel  you  in  virtue,  such  a  vie- 


6  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

tory  will  be  to  us  a  mortification,  while  defeat  will  bring 
happiness.  In  this  way  you  may  conquer  us.  Noth 
ing  is  more  shameful  for  a  man  than  a  claim  to  esteem, 
not  on  his  own  merits,  but  on  the  fame  of  his  ancestors. 
The  glory  of  the  fathers  is  doubtless  to  their  children  a 
most  precious  treasure ;  but  to  enjoy  it  without  trans 
mission  to  the  next  generation,  and  without  addition,  is 
the  extreme  of  ignominy.  Following  these  counsels, 
when  your  days  on  earth  are  finished,  you  will  come 
to  join  us,  and  we  shall  receive  you  as  friend  receives 
friend ;  but  if  you  neglect  our  words,  expect  no  happy 
greeting  from  us." 1 

Honor  to  the  memory  of  our  fathers  !  May  the  turf 
lie  lightly  on  their  sacred  graves  !  Not  in  words  only, 
but  in  deeds  also,  let  us  testify  our  reverence  for  their 
name,  imitating  what  in  them  was  lofty,  pure,  and 
good,  learning  from  them  to  bear  hardship  and  priva 
tion.  May  we,  who  now  reap  in  strength  what  they 
sowed  in  weakness,  augment  the  inheritance  we  have 
received  !  To  this  end,  we  must  not  fold  our  hands  in 
slumber,  nor  abide  content  with  the  past.  To  each 
generation  is  appointed  its  peculiar  task  ;  nor  does  the 
heart  which  responds  to  the  call  of  duty  find  rest  ex 
cept  in  the  grave. 

Be  ours  the  task  now  in  the  order  of  Providence  cast 
upon  us.  And  what  is  this  duty  ?  What  can  we  do  to 
make  our  coming  welcome  to  our  fathers  in  the  skies, 
and  draw  to  our  memory  hereafter  the  homage  of  a 
grateful  posterity  ?  How  add  to  the  inheritance  re 
ceived  ?  The  answer  must  interest  all,  particularly  on 

1  This  is  borrowed  almo*t  literally  from  the  word*  attributed  by  Plato 
to  the  Father*  of  Athens,  in  the  beautiful  funeral  discourse  of  the  Me- 
MBMiu*. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  7 

this  festival,  when  we  celebrate  the  Nativity  of  the  Re 
public.  It  well  becomes  the  patriot  citizen,  on  this 
anniversary,  to  consider  the  national  character,  and  how 
it  may  be  advanced,  —  as  the  good  man  dedicates  his 
birthday  to  meditation  on  his  life,  and  to  resolutions 
of  improvement.  Avoiding,  then,  all  exultation  in  the 
abounding  prosperity  of  the  land,  and  in  that  free 
dom  whose  influence  is  widening  to  the  uttermost  cir 
cles  of  the  earth,  I  would  turn  attention  to  the  char 
acter  of  our  country,  and  humbly  endeavor  to  learn 
what  must  be  done  that  the  Republic  may  best  secure 
the  welfare  of  the  people  committed  to  its  care, — that 
it  may  perform  its  part  in  the  world's  history,  —  that  it 
may  fulfil  the  aspirations  of  generous  hearts,  —  and, 
practising  that  righteousness  which  exalteth  a  nation, 
attain  to  the  elevation  of  True  Grandeur. 

With  this  aim,  and  believing  that  I  can  in  no  other 
way  so  fitly  fulfil  the  trust  reposed  in  me  to-day,  I  pur 
pose  to  consider  what,  in  our  age,  are  the  true  objects  of 
national  ambition,  —  what  is  truly  National  Honor, 
National  Glory,  —  WHAT  is  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF 
NATIONS.  I  would  not  depart  from  the  modesty  that 
becomes  me,  yet  I  am  not  without  hope  that  I  may  do 
something  to  rescue  these  terms,  now  so  powerful  over 
the  minds  of  men,  from  mistaken  objects,  especially 
from  deeds  of  war,  and  the  extension  of  empire,  that 
they  may  be  applied  to  works  of  justice  and  benefi 
cence,  which  are  better  than  war  or  empire. 

The  subject  may  be  novel,  on  an  occasion  like  the 
present ;  but  it  is  comprehensive,  and  of  transcendent 
importance.  It  raises  us  to  the  contemplation  of  things 
not  temporary  or  local,  but  belonging  to  all  ages  and 


8  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

countries,  —  things  lofty  as  Truth,  universal  as  Hu 
manity.  Nay,  more;  it  practically  concerns  the  gen 
eral  welfare,  not  only  of  our  own  cherished  Repub 
lic,  but  of  the  whole  Federation  of  Nations.  It  has 
an  urgent  interest  from  transactions  in  which  we  are 
now  unhappily  involved.  By  an  act  of  unjust  legis 
lation,  extending  our  power  over  Texas,  peace  with 
Mexico  is  endangered, —  while,  by  petulant  assertion 
of  a  disputed  claim  to  a  remote  territory  beyond  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  ancient  fires  of  hostile  strife  are 
kindled  anew  on  the  hearth  of  our  mother  country. 
Mexico  and  England  both  avow  the  determination  to 
vindicate  what  is  called  the  National  Honor ;  and  our 
Government  calmly  contemplates  the  dread  Arbitra 
ment  of  War,  provided  it  cannot  obtain  what  is  called 
an  honorable  peace. 

Far  from  our  nation  and  our  age  be  the  sin  and 
shame  of  contests  hateful  in  the  sight  of  God  and  all 
good  men,  having  their  origin  in  no  righteous  sentiment, 
no  true  love  of  country,  no  generous  thirst  for  fame, 
"  that  last  infirmity  of  noble  mind,"  but  springing  mani 
festly  from  an  ignorant  and  ignoble  passion  for  new  ter 
ritory,  strengthened,  in  our  case,  in  a  republic  whose 
star  is  Liberty,  by  unnatural  desire  to  add  new  links 
in  chains  destined  yet  to  fall  from  the  limbs  of  the 
unhappy  slave  !  In  such  contests  God  has  no  attribute 
which  can  join  with  us.  Who  believes  that  the  na 
tional  honor  would  be  promoted  by  a  war  with  Mexico 
or  a  war  with  England  ?  What  just  man  would  sacri 
fice  a  single  human  life  to  bring  under  our  rule  both 
Texas  and  Oregon  ?  An  ancient  Roman,  ignorant  of 
Christian  truth,  touched  only  by  the  relation  of  fellow- 
countryman,  and  not  of  fellow-man,  said,  as  he  turned 


THE   TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  9 

aside  from  a  career  of  Asiatic  conquest,  that  he  would 
rather  save  the  life  of  a  single  citizen  than  win  to  his 
power  all  the  dominions  of  Mithridates.1 

A  war  with  Mexico  would  be  mean  and  cowardly; 
with  England  it  would  be  bold  at  least,  though  parrici 
dal.  The  heart  sickens  at  the  murderous  attack  upon 
an  enemy  distracted  by  civil  feud,  weak  at  home,  impo 
tent  abroad ;  but  it  recoils  in  horror  from  the  deadly  shock 
between  children  of  a  common  ancestry,  speaking  the 
same  language,  soothed  in  infancy  by  the  same  words 
of  love  and  tenderness,  and  hardened  into  vigorous  man 
hood  under  the  bracing  influence  of  institutions  instinct 
with  the  same  vital  breath  of  freedom.  The  Eoman  his 
torian  has  aptly  pictured  this  unnatural  combat.  Earely 
do  words  of  the  past  so  justly  describe  the  present.  Cu- 
ram  acuebat,  quod  adversus  Latinos  bellandum  erat,  lin 
gua,  moribus,  armorum  genere,  institutis  ante  omnia 
militaribus  congruentes :  milites  militibus,  centurioni- 
bus  centuriones,  tribuni  tribunis  compares  collegceque, 
iisdem  prcesidiis,  scepe  iisdem  manipulis  permixti  fue- 
rant? 

Can  there  be  in  our  age  any  peace  that  is  not  hon 
orable,  any  war  that  is  not  dishonorable  ?  The  true 
honor  of  a  nation  is  conspicuous  only  in  deeds  of 
justice  and  beneficence,  securing  and  advancing  hu 
man  happiness.  In  the  clear  eye  of  that  Christian 
judgment  which  must  yet  prevail,  vain  are  the  victo 
ries  of  War,  infamous  its  spoils.  He  is  the  benefactor, 
and  worthy  of  honor,  who  carries  comfort  to  wretched 
ness,  dries  the  tear  of  sorrow,  relieves  the  unfortu 
nate,  feeds  the  hungry,  clothes  the  naked,  does  jus 
tice,  enlightens  the  ignorant,  unfastens  the  fetters  of 

1  Plutarch,  Lucvllut,  Cap.  VTII.  3  Livy,  Hist.,  Lib.  VIH.  c.  6. 

1* 


10  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

the  slave,  and  finally,  by  virtuous  genius,  in  art,  lit 
erature,  science,  enlivens  and  exalts  the  hours  of  life, 
or,  by  generous  example,  inspires  a  love  for  God  and 
man.  This  is  the  Christian  hero ;  this  is  the  man  of 
honor  in  a  Christian  land.  He  is  no  benefactor,  nor 
worthy  of  honor,  whatever  his  worldly  renown,  whose 
life  is  absorbed  in  feats  of  brute  force,  who  renounces 
the  great  law  of  Christian  brotherhood,  whose  vocation 
is  blood.  Well  may  old  Sir  Thomas  Browne  exclaim, 
"  The  world  does  not  know  its  greatest  men ! "  •  -  for 
thus  far  it  has  chiefly  honored  the  violent  brood  of  Bat 
tle,  armed  men  springing  up  from  the  dragon's  teeth 
sown  by  Hate,  and  cared  little  for  the  truly  good  men, 
children  of  Love,  guiltless  of  their  country's  blood, 
whose  steps  on  earth  are  noiseless  as  an  angel's  wing. 
It  will  not  be  disguised  that  this  standard  differs  from 
that  of  the  world  even  in  our  day.  The  voice  of  man 
is  yet  given  to  martial  praise,  and  the  honors  of  victory 
are  chanted  even  by  the  lips  of  woman.  The  mother, 
rocking  the  infant  on  her  knee,  stamps  the  images  of 
War  upon  his  tender  mind,  at  that  age  more  im 
pressible  than  wax ;  she  nurses  his  slumber  with  its 
music,  pleases  his  waking  hours  with  its  stories,  and 
selects  for  his  playthings  the  plume  and  the  sword. 
From  the  child  is  formed  the  man ;  and  who  can  weigh 
the  influence  of  a  mother's  spirit  on  the  opinions  of  his 
life  ?  The  mind  which  trains  the  child  is  like  a  hand 
at  the  end  of  a  long  lever ;  a  gentle  effort  suffices  to 
heave  the  enormous  weight  of  succeeding  years.  As  the 
boy  advances  to  youth,  he  is  fed  like  Achilles,  not  on 
honey  and  milk  only,  but  on  bears'  marrow  and  lions' 
hearts.  He  draws  the  nutriment  of  his  soul  from  a  lit 
erature  whose  beautiful  fields  are  moistened  by  human 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  11 

blood.  Fain  would  I  offer  my  tribute  to  the  Father  of 
Poetry,  standing  with  harp  of  immortal  melody  on  the 
misty  mountain-top  of  distant  Antiquity,  —  to  those 
stories  of  courage  and  sacrifice  which  emblazon  the  an 
nals  of  Greece  and  Rome,  —  to  the  fulminations  of  De 
mosthenes  and  the  splendors  of  Tully,  —  to  the  sweet 
verse  of  Virgil  and  the  poetic  prose  of  Livy ;  fain  would 
I  oifer  my  tribute  to  the  new  literature,  which  shot  up 
in  modern  times  as  a  vigorous  forest  from  the  burnt  site 
of  ancient  woods,  —  to  the  passionate  song  of  the  Trou 
badour  in  France  and  the  Minnesinger  in  Germany,  — 
to  the  thrilling  ballad  of  Spain  and  the  delicate  music 
of  the  Italian  lyre :  but  from  all  these  has  breathed  the 
breath  of  War,  that  has  swept  the  heart-strings  of  men 
in  all  the  thronging  generations. 

And  when  the  youth  becomes  a  man,  his  country  in 
vites  his  service  in  war,  and  holds  before  his  bewildered 
imagination  the  prizes  of  worldly  honor.  For  him  the 
pen  of  the  historian  and  the  verse  of  the  poet.  His 
soul  is  taught  to  swell  at  the  thought  that  he,  too,  is  a 
soldier,  —  that  his  name  shall  be  entered  on  the  list  of 
those  who  have  borne  arms  for  their  country ;  and  per 
haps  he  dreams  that  he,  too,  may  sleep,  like  the  Great 
Captain  of  Spain,  with  a  hundred  trophies  over  his 
grave.  The  law  of  the  land  throws  its  sanction  over 
this  frenzy.  The  contagion  spreads  beyond  those  sub 
ject  to  positive  obligation.  Peaceful  citizens  volunteer 
to  appear  as  soldiers,  and  affect,  in  dress,  arms,  and  de 
portment,  what  is  called  the  "  pride,  pomp,  and  circum 
stance  of  glorious  war."  The  ear-piercing  fife  has  to 
day  filled  our  streets,  and  we  have  come  to  this  church, 
on  this  National  Sabbath,  by  the  thump  of  drum  and 
with  the  parade  of  bristling  bayonets. 


12  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  the  Spirit  of  War  still 
finds  a  home  among  us,  nor  that  its  honors  continue  to 
be  regarded.  All  this  may  seem  to  illustrate  the  bitter 
philosophy  of  Hobbes,  declaring  that  the  natural  state 
of  mankind  is  War,  and  to  sustain  the  exulting  language 
of  the  soldier  in  our  own  day,  when  he  wrote,  "  War  is  the 
condition  of  this  world.  From  man  to  the  smallest  in 
sect,  all  are  at  strife ;  and  the  glory  of  arms,  which  can 
not  be  obtained  without  the  exercise  of  honor,  fortitude, 
courage,  obedience,  modesty,  and  temperance,  excites 
the  brave  man's  patriotism,  and  is  a  chastening  correc 
tive  for  the  rich  man's  pride." 1  This  is  broad  and  bold. 
In  madder  mood,  another  British  general  is  reported  as 
saying,  "  Why,  man,  do  you  know  that  a  grenadier  is 
the  greatest  character  in  this  world,"  —  and  after  a  mo 
ment's  pause,  with  the  added  emphasis  of  an  oath,  "  and, 
I  believe,  in  the  next,  too." a  All  these  spoke  in  har 
mony.  If  one  is  true,  all  are  true.  A  French  voice  has 
struck  another  note,  chanting  nothing  less  than  the  di 
vinity  of  war,  hailing  it  as  "  divine  "  in  itself,  —  "  di 
vine"  in  its  consequences, — "divine"  in  mysterious  glory 
and  seductive  attraction,  —  "  divine  "  in  the  manner  of 
its  declaration,  —  "  divine  "  in  the  results  obtained,  — 
"  divine "  in  the  undefinable  force  by  which  its  tri 
umph  is  determined  ; 8  and  the  whole  earth,  continually 
imbibing  blood,  is  nothing  but  an  immense  altar,  where 
life  is  immolated  without  end,  without  measure,  with 
out  respite.  But  this  oracle  is  not  saved  from  rejec 
tion  even  by  the  magistral  style  in  which  it  is  deliv 
ered. 

1  Napier,  IVninxnlar  War,  Book  XXIV.  ch.  6,  Vol.  VI.  p.  688. 
>  Souther,  Colloquies  on  the  Progress  and  Prospects  of  Society,  Coll.  VIII., 
Vol.  I.  p.  211. 
•  Joseph  de  Maistre,  Soirees  de  Saint-Pdtersbourg,  Tom.  II.  pp.  27, 32-86. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  13 

Alas !  in  the  existing  attitude  of  nations,  the  infidel 
philosopher  and  the  rhetorical  soldier,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  giddy  general  and  the  French  priest  of  Mars,  find 
too  much  support  for  a  theory  which  degrades  human 
nature  and  insults  the  goodness  of  God.  It  is  true  that 
in  us  are  impulses  unhappily  tending  to  strife.  Pro 
pensities  possessed  in  common  with  the  beast,  if  not 
subordinated  to  what  in  man  is  human,  almost  divine, 
will  break  forth  in  outrage.  This  is  the  predominance 
of  the  animal.  Hence  wars  and  fightings,  with  the 
false  glory  which  crowns  such  barbarism.  But  the 
true  civilization  of  nations,  as  of  individuals,  is  deter 
mined  by  the  extent  to  which  these  evil  dispositions  are 
restrained.  Nor  does  the  teacher  ever  more  truly  per 
form  his  high  office  than  when,  recognizing  the  suprem 
acy  of  the  moral  and  intellectual,  he  calls  upon  nations, 
as  upon  individuals,  to  declare  independence  of  the  bes 
tial,  to  abandon  practices  founded  on  this  part  of  our 
nature,  and  in  every  way  to  beat  down  that  brutal  spirit 
which  is  the  Genius  of  War.  In  making  this  appeal,  he 
will  be  startled  as  he  learns,  that,  while  the  municipal 
law  of  each  Christian  nation,  discarding  the  Arbitra 
ment  of  Force,  provides  a  judicial  tribunal  for  the 
determination  of  controversies  between  individuals,  In 
ternational  Law  expressly  estaUislics  the  Arbitrament  of 
War  for  the  determination  of  controversies  between 
nations. 

Here,  then,  in  unfolding  the  True  Grandeur  of  Na 
tions,  we  encounter  a  practice,  or  custom,  sanctioned  by 
the  Law  of  Nations,  and  constituting  a  part  of  that  law, 
which  exists  in  defiance  of  principles  such  as  no  indi 
viduals  can  disown.  If  it  is  wrong  and  inglorious  when 
individuals  consent  and  agree  to  determine  their  petty 


14  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

controversies  by  combat,  it  must  be  equally  wrong  and 
inglorious  when  nations  consent  and  agree  to  determine 
their  vaster  controversies  by  combat  Here  is  a  positive, 
precise,  and  specific  evil,  of  gigantic  proportions,  incon 
sistent  with  what  is  truly  honorable,  making  within  the 
sphere  of  its  influence  all  true  grandeur  impossible, 
which,  instead  of  proceeding  from  some  uncontrollable 
impulse  of  our  nature,  is  expressly  established  and  organ- 
ized  by  law. 

As  all  citizens  are  parties  to  Municipal  Law,  and  re 
sponsible  for  its  institutions,  so  are  all  the  Christian 
nations  parties  to  International  Law,  and  responsible  for 
its  provisions.  By  recognizing  these  provisions,  nations 
consent  and  agree  beforehand  to  the  Arbitrament  of  War, 
precisely  as  citizens,  by  recognizing  Trial  by  Jury,  con 
sent  and  agree  beforehand  to  the  latter  tribunal.  As,  to 
comprehend  the  true  nature  of  Trial  by  Jury,  we  first 
repair  to  the  Municipal  Law  by  which  it  is  established, 
so,  to  comprehend  the  true  nature  of  the  Arbitrament 
of  War,  we  must  first  repair  to  the  Law  of  Nations. 

Writers  of  genius  and  learning  have  defined  this  ar 
bitrament,  and  laid  down  the  rules  by  which  it  is  gov 
erned,  constituting  a  complex  code,  with  innumerable 
subtile  provisions  regulating  the  resort  to  it  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  must  be  conducted,  called  the 
Laws  of  War.  In  these  quarters  we  catch  our  first  au 
thentic  glimpses  of  its  folly  and  wickedness.  Accord 
ing  to  Lord  Bacon,  whose  authority  is  always  great, 
"  Wars  are  no  massacres  and  confusions,  but  they  are 
the  highest  Trials  of  Right,  when  princes  and  states,  that 
acknowledge  no  superior  upon  earth,  shall  put  them 
selves  upon  the  justice  of  God  for  the  deciding  of  their 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  15 

controversies  by  such  success  as  it  shall  please  him  to 
give  on  either  side."1  This  definition  of  the  English 
philosopher  is  adopted  by  the  American  jurist,  Chancel 
lor  Kent,  in  his  Commentaries  on  American  Law.2  The 
Swiss  publicist,  Vattel,  whose  work  is  accepted  as  an 
important  repository  of  the  Law  of  Nations,  defines 
War  as  "that  state  in  which  a  nation  prosecutes  its 
right  by  force." 3  In  this  he  very  nearly  follows  the 
eminent  Dutch  authority,  Bynkershoek,  who  says,  "  Bel- 
lum  est  eorum,  qui  suse  potestatis  sunt,  juris  sui  per- 
sequendi  ergo,  concertatio  per  vim  vel  dolum." 4  Mr. 
Whewell,  who  has  done  so  much  to  illustrate  philoso 
phy  in  all  its  departments,  says,  in  his  recent  work  on 
the  Elements  of  Morality  and  Polity,  "  Though  war  is 
appealed  to,  because  there  is  no  other  ULTIMATE  TRIBU 
NAL  to  which  states  can  have  recourse,  it  is  appealed  to 
for  justice."  5  And  in  our  country,  Dr.  Lieber  says,  in 
a  work  of  learning  and  sagacious  thought,  that  war  is 
undertaken  "  in  order  to  obtain  right,"  6  —  a  definition 
which  hardly  differs  in  form  from  those  of  Vattel  and 
Bynkershoek. 

In  accordance  with  these  texts,  I  would  now  define 
the  evil  which  I  arraign.  War  is  a  public  armed  contest 
between  nations,  under  the  sanction  of  International  Law, 
to  establish  JUSTICE  between  them :  as,  for  instance,  to  de 
termine  a  disputed  boundary,  the  title  to  territory,  or  a 
claim  for  damages. 

This  definition  is  confined  to  contests  between  nations. 

1  Observations  upon  a  Libel,  etc.,  Work1',  Vol.  III.  p.  40. 

«  Lecture  III.,  Vol.  I.  p.  45. 

»  Book  III.  ch.  1,  sec.  1. 

4  Quaest.  Jur.  Pub.,  Lib.  I.  cap.  1. 

6  Book  VI.  ch.  2.  art.  1146. 

•  Political  Ethics,  Book  VII.  sec.  19,  Vol.  II.  p.  648. 


16  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

It  is  restricted  to  International  War,  carefully  excluding 
the  question,  often  agitated,  concerning  the  right  of 
revolution,  and  that  other  question,  on  which  friends 
of  peace  sometimes  differ,  the  right  of  personal  self- 
defence.  It  does  not  in  any  way  throw  doubt  on  the 
employment  of  force  in  the  administration  of  justice 
or  the  conservation  of  domestic  quiet. 

It  is  true  that  the  term  defensive  is  always  applied 
to  wars  in  our  day.  And  it  is  creditable  to  the  moral 
sense  that  nations  are  constrained  to  allege  this  seem 
ing  excuse,  although  its  absurdity  is  apparent  in  the 
equal  pretensions  of  the  two  belligerents,  each  claim 
ing  to  act  on  the  defensive.  It  is  unreasonable  to  sup 
pose  that  war  can  arise  in  the  present  age,  under  the 
sanctions  of  International  Law,  except  to  determine  an 
asserted  right.  Whatever  its  character  in  periods  of 
barbarism,  or  when  invoked  to  repel  an  incursion  of 
robbers  or  pirates,  "  enemies  of  the  human  race,"  war 
becomes  in  our  day,  among  all  the  nations  parties  to  ex 
isting  International  Law,  simply  a  mode  of  litigation, 
or  of  deciding  a  lis  pendens.  It  is  a  mere  TRIAL  OP 
RIGHT,  an  appeal  for  justice  to  force.  The  wars  now 
lowering  from  Mexico  and  England  are  of  this  char 
acter.  On  the  one  side,  we  assert  a  title  to  Texas, 
which  is  disputed;  on  the  other,  we  assert  a  title  to 
Oregon,  which  is  disputed.  Only  according  to  "mar 
tial  logic,"  or  the  "  flash  language "  of  a  dishonest 
patriotism,  can  the  Ordeal  by  Battle  be  regarded  in 
these  causes,  on  either  side,  as  Defensive  War.  Nor 
did  the  threatened  war  with  France  in  1834  prom 
ise  to  assume  any  different  character.  Its  professed 
object  was  to  obtain  the  payment  of  five  million  dol 
lars,  —  in  other  words,  to  determine  by  this  Ultimate 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  17 

Tribunal  a  simple  question  of  justice.  And  going  back 
still  farther  in  our  history,  the  avowed  purpose  of  the 
\var  against  Great  Britain  in  1812  was  to  obtain  from 
the  latter  power  an  abandonment  of  the  claim  to  search 
American  vessels.  Unrighteous  as  was  this  claim,  it 
is  plain  that  war  here  was  invoked  only  as  a  Trial  of 
Eight. 

It  forms  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  consider  individ 
ual  wars  in  the  past,  except  so  far  as  necessary  by  way 
of  example.  My  aim  is  higher.  I  wish  to  expose  an 
irrational,  cruel,  and  impious  custom,  sanctioned  by  the 
Law  of  Nations.  On  this  account  I  resort  to  that 
supreme  law  for  the  definition  on  which  I  plant  my 
self  in  the  effort  I  now  make. 

After  considering,  in  succession,  first,  the  character 
of  war,  secondly,  the  miseries  it  produces,  and,  thirdly, 
its  utter  and  pitiful  insufficiency,  as  a  mode  of  de 
termining  justice,  we  shall  be  able  to  decide,  strictly 
and  logically,  whether  it  must  not  be  ranked  as  crime, 
from  which  no  true  honor  can  spring  to  individuals  or 
nations.  To  appreciate  this  evil,  and  the  necessity  for 
its  overthrow,  it  will  be  our  duty,  fourthly,  to  consider 
in  succession  the  various  prejudices  by  which  it  is  sus 
tained,  ending  with  that  prejudice,  so  gigantic  and  all- 
embracing,  at  whose  command  uncounted  sums  are 
madly  diverted  from  purposes  of  peace  to  preparations 
for  war.  The  whole  subject  is  infinitely  practical, 
while  the  concluding  division  shows  how  the  public 
treasury  may  be  relieved,  and  new  means  secured  for 
human  advancement. 


18  THE  TKUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS. 


First,  as  to  the  essential  character  and  root  of  war, 
or  that  part  of  our  nature  whence  it  proceeds.  Listen 
to  the  voice  from  the  ancient  poet  of  Boeotian  Ascra :  — 

"  This  is  the  law  for  mortals,  ordained  by  the  Ruler  of  Heaven: 
Fishes  and  beasts  and  birds  of  the  air  devour  each  other; 
JUSTICE  dictllt  not  among  them :  only  to  MAN  hat  he  given 
JITSTICC  the  IJiyltett  ami  Beit."  l 

These  words  of  old  Hesiod  exhibit  the  distinction  be 
tween  man  and  beast;  but  this  very  distinction  be 
longs  to  the  present  discussion.  The  idea  rises  to  the 
mind  at  once,  that  war  is  a  resort  to  brute  force,  where 
nations  strive  to  overpower  each  other.  Reason,  and 
the  divine  part  of  our  nature,  where  alone  we  differ 
from  the  beast,  where  alone  we  approach  the  Divinity, 
where  alone  are  the  elements  of  that  justice  which  is 
the  professed  object  of  war,  are  rudely  dethroned.  For 
the  time  men  adopt  the  nature  of  beasts,  emulating 
their  ferocity,  like  them  rejoicing  in  blood,  and  with 
lion's  paw  clutching  an  asserted  right.  Though  in  more 
recent  days  this  character  is  somewhat  disguised  by 
the  skill  and  knowledge  employed,  war  is  still  the  same, 
only  more  destructive  from  the  genius  and  intellect 
which  have  become  its  servants.  The  primitive  poets, 
in  the  unconscious  simplicity  of  the  world's  childhood, 
make  this  boldly  apparent.  The  heroes  of  Homer  are 
likened  to  animals  in  ungovernable  fury,  or  to  things 
devoid  of  reason  or  affection.  Menelaus  presses  his 

l  TIe<<iod,  Works  and  Days,  w.  276-279.  Cicero  also  says,  "  Neque  ulla 
re  longius  abMimii*  a  natura  feranim,  in  quibus  inesse  fortittnlim-in  saepe 
dicimus,  in.  in  equis,  in  leonilm*;  justitiam,  icquitatein,  bonitatem  non 
dicioms."  —  De  Offic.,  Lib.  I.  cap.  16. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  19 

way  through  the  crowd  "  like  a  wild  beast."  Sarpedon 
is  aroused  against  the  Argives,  "as  a  lion  against  the 
crooked-horned  oxen,"  and  afterwards  rushes  forward 
"like  a  lion  nurtured  on  the  mountains,  for  a  long 
time  famished  for  want  of  flesh,  but  whose  courage 
impels  him  to  attack  even  the  well-guarded  sheep- 
fold."  In  one  and  the  same  passage,  the  great  Tela- 
monian  Ajax  is  "  wild  beast,"  "  tawny  lion,"  and  "  dull 
ass  "  ;  and  all  the  Greek  chiefs,  the  flower  of  the  camp, 
are  ranged  about  Diomed, "  like  raw-eating  lions,  or  wild- 
boars,  whose  strength  is  irresistible."  Even  Hector,  the 
model  hero,  with  all  the  virtues  of  war,  is  praised  as 
"  tamer  of  horses " ;  and  one  of  his  renowned  feats  in 
battle,  indicating  brute  strength  only,  is  where  he  takes 
up  and  hurls  a  stone  which  two  of  our  strongest  men 
could  not  easily  lift  into  a  wagon ;  and  he  drives  over 
dead  bodies  and  shields,  while  the  axle  is  defiled  by 
gore,  and  the  guard  about  the  seat  is  sprinkled  from  the 
horses'  hoofs  and  the  tires  of  the  wheels  ; 1  and  in  that 
most  admired  passage  of  ancient  literature,  before  re 
turning  his  child,  the  young  Astyanax,  to  the  arms  of 
the  wife  he  is  about  to  leave,  this  hero  of  war  invokes 
the  gods  for  a  single  blessing  on  the  boy's  head,  —  "  that 
he  may  excel  his  father,  and  bring  home  bloody  spoils, 
his  enemy  being  slain,  and  so  make  glad  Hie  Jieart  of  his 
motJier  !  " 

From  early  fields  of  modern  literature,  as  from  those 
of  antiquity,  might  be  gathered  similar  illustrations, 
showing  the  unconscious  degradation  of  the  soldier,  in 
vain  pursuit  of  justice,  renouncing  the  human  character, 

1  Little  better  than  Trojan  Hector  was  the  "  great"  Condd  ranpinp  over 
the  field  and  exulting  in  the  blood  of  the  enemy,  which  defiled  hi<  sword- 
arm  to  the  elbow.  —  Million,  Essai  sur  la  Vie  du  Grand  Conde",  p.  60. 


20  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

to  assume  that  of  brute.  Bayard,  the  exemplar  of  chiv 
alry,  with  a  name  always  on  the  lips  of  its  votaries, 
was  described  by  the  qualities  of  beasts,  being,  accord 
ing  to  his  admirers,  ram  in  attack,  wild-boar  in  defence, 
and  wolf  in  fliyht.  Henry  the  Fifth,  as  represented  by 
our  own  Shakespeare,  in  the  spirit-stirring  appeal  to  his 
troops  exclaims, — 

"  When  the  blast  of  war  blows  in  our  ears, 
Then  imitate  the  action  of  the  tiger" 

This  is  plain  and  frank,  revealing  the  true  character  of 
war. 

I  need  not  dwell  on  the  moral  debasement  that  must 
ensue.  Passions,  like  so  many  bloodhounds,  are  un 
leashed  and  suffered  to  rage.  Crimes  filling  our  pris 
ons  stalk  abroad  in  the  soldier's  garb,  unwhipped  of 
justice.  Murder,  robbery,  rape,  arson,  are  the  sports 
of  this  fiendish  Saturnalia,  when 

"  The  gates  of  merer  shall  be  all  shut  up, 
And  the  fleshed  soldier,  rough  and  hard  of  heart, 
In  liberty  of  bloody  hand  shall  range 
With  contcience  wide  at  hell." 

By  a  bold,  but  truthful  touch,  Shakespeare  thus  pic 
tures  the  foul  disfigurement  which  war  produces  in  man, 
whose  native  capacities  he  describes  in  those  beautiful 
words :  "  How  noble  in  reason !  how  infinite  in  faculties  ! 
in  form  and  moving  how  express  and  admirable !  in  ac 
tion  how  like  an  angel !  in  apprehension  how  like  a 
god!"  And  yet  this  nobility  of  reason,  this  infinitude 
of  faculties,  this  marvel  of  form  and  motion,  this  nature 
so  angelic,  so  godlike,  are  all,  under  the  transforming 
power  of  War,  lost  in  the  action  of  the  beast,  or  the 
license  of  the  fleshed  soldier  with  bloody  hand  and 
conscience  wide  as  hell 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  21 


II. 


The  immediate  effect  of  war  is  to  sever  all  relations 
of  friendship  and  commerce  between  the  belligerent  na 
tions,  and  every  individual  thereof,  impressing  upon  each 
citizen  or  subject  the  character  of  enemy.  Imagine  this 
instant  change  between  England  and  the  United  States. 
The  innumerable  ships  of  the  two  countries,  the  white 
doves  of  commerce,  bearing  the  olive  of  peace,  are 
driven  from  the  sea,  or  turned  from  peaceful  purposes 
to  be  ministers  of  destruction ;  the  threads  of  social 
and  business  intercourse,  so  carefully  woven  into  a 
thick  web,  are  suddenly  snapped  asunder ;  friend  can 
no  longer  communicate  with  friend ;  the  twenty  thou 
sand  letters  speeded  each  fortnight  from  this  port  alone 
are  arrested,  and  the  human  affections,  of  which  they 
are  the  precious  expression,  seek  in  vain  for  utterance. 
Tell  me,  you  with  friends  and  kindred  abroad,  or  you 
bound  to  other  lands  only  by  relations  of  commerce,  are 
you  ready  for  this  rude  separation  ? 

This  is  little  compared  with  what  must  follow.  It  is 
but  the  first  portentous  shadow  of  disastrous  eclipse, 
twilight  usher  of  thick  darkness,  covering  the  whole 
heavens  with  a  pall,  broken  only  by  the  lightnings  of 
battle  and  siege. 

Such  horrors  redden  the  historic  page,  while,  to  the 
scandal  of  humanity,  they  never  want  historians  with 
feelings  kindred  to  those  by  which  they  are  inspired. 
The  demon  that  draws  the  sword  also  guides  the  pen. 
The  favorite  chronicler  of  modern  Europe,  Froissart,  dis 
covers  his  sympathies  in  his  Prologue,  where,  with 


22  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

something  of  apostleship,  he  announces  his  purpose, 
"  that  the  honorable  enterprises  and  noble  adventures 
and  feats  of  arms  which  happened  in  the  wars  of  France 
and  England  be  notably  registered  and  put  in  perpetual 
memory,"  and  then  proceeds  to  bestow  his  equal  admi 
ration  upon  bravery  and  cunning,  upon  the  courtesy 
which  pardoned  as  upon  the  rage  which  caused  the  flow 
of  blood  in  torrents,  dwelling  with  especial  delight  on 
"  beautiful  incursions,  beautiful  rescues,  beautiful  feats 
of  arms,  and  beautiful  prowesses " ;  and  wantoning  in 
pictures  of  cities  assaulted,  "  which,  being  soon  gained 
by  force,  were  robbed,  and  men  and  women  and  children 
put  to  the  sword  without  mercy,  while  the  churches  were, 
burnt  and  violated."1  This  was  in  a  barbarous  age. 
But  popular  writers  in  our  own  day,  dazzled  by  false 
ideas  of  greatness,  at  which  reason  and  humanity 
blush,  do  not  hesitate  to  dwell  on  similar  scenes  even 
with  rapture  and  eulogy.  The  humane  soul  of  Wilber- 
force,  which  sighed  that  England's  "  bloody  laws  sent 
many  unprepared  into  another  world,"  could  hail  the 
slaughter  of  Waterloo,  by  which  thousands  were  hurried 
into  eternity  on  the  Sabbath  he  held  so  holy,  as  a 
"  splendid  victory."  2 

My  present  purpose  is  less  to  judge  the  historian  than 
to  expose  the  horrors  on  horrors  which  he  applauds. 
At  Tarragona,  above  six  thousand  human  beings,  almost 
all  defenceless,  men  and  women,  gray  hairs  and  infant 
innocence,  attractive  youth  and  wrinkled  age,  were 
butchered  by  the  infuriate  troops  in  one  night,  and  the 
morning  sun  rose  upon  a  city  whose  streets  and  houses 

i  Frotwart,  LM  Cnroniqoe*,  Ch.  177, 179,  Collection  de  Bucbon,  Tom.  II. 
pp.  87,  91. 
*  Life  of  William  Wilberforce,  by  his  Sons,  Ch.  80,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  266,  261. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  23 

were  inundated  with  blood :  and  yet  this  is  called  a 
"glorious  exploit."  J  Here  was  a  conquest  by  the 
French.  At  a  later  day,  Ciudad  Kodrigo  was  stormed  by 
the  British,  when,  in  the  license  of  victory,  there  ensued 
a  savage  scene  of  plunder  •  and  violence,  while  shouts 
and  screams  on  all  sides  mingled  fearfully  with  the 
groans  of  the  wounded.  Churches  were  desecrated,  cel 
lars  of  wine  and  spirits  were  pillaged,  fire  was  wantonly 
applied  to  the  city,  and  brutal  intoxication  spread  in 
every  direction.  Only  when  the  drunken  dropped  from 
excess,  or  fell  asleep,  was  any  degree  of  order  restored : 
and  yet  the  storming  of  Ciudad  Itodrigo  is  pronounced 
"  one  of  the  most  brilliant  exploits  of  the  British  army."  2 
This  "beautiful  feat  of  arms"  was  followed  by  the 
storming  of  Badajoz,  where  the  same  scenes  were  en 
acted  again,  with  accumulated  atrocities.  The  story  shall 
be  told  in  the  words  of  a  partial  historian,  who  himself 
saw  what  lie  eloquently  describes.  "  Shameless  rapacity, 
brutal  intemperance,  savage  lust,  cruelty,  and  murder, 
shrieks  and  piteous  lamentations,  groans,  shouts,  impre 
cations,  the  hissing  of  fires  bursting  from  the  houses,  the 
crashing  of  doors  and  windows,  and  the  reports  of  mus 
kets  used  in  violence,  resounded  for  two  days  and  nights 
in  the  streets  of  Badajoz.  On  the  third,  when  the  city 
was  sacked,  when  the  soldiers  were  exhausted  by  their 
own  excesses,  the  tumult  rather  subsided  than  was 
quelled.  The  wounded  men  were  then  looked  to,  the 
dead  disposed  of."  3  All  this  is  in  the  nature  of  confes 
sion,  for  the  historian  is  a  partisan  of  battle. 

The  same  terrible  war  affords   another  instance  of 
atrocities  at  a  siege  crying  to  Heaven.     For  weeks  be- 

1  Alison,  Hist,  of  Europe,  Ch.  61,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  237. 

2  Il)i«l.,  Ch.  64,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  482. 

»  Napier,  Hist.  Peninsular  War,  Book  XVI.  ch.  6,  Vol.  IV.  p.  431. 


24  THE  TEUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

fore  the  surrender  of  Saragossa,  the  deaths  daily  were 
from  four  to  five  hundred ;  and  as  the  living  could  not 
bury  the  increasing  mass,  thousands  of  carcasses,  scat 
tered  in  streets  and  court-yards,  or  piled  in  heaps  at  the 
doors  of  churches,  were  left  to  dissolve  in  their  own 
corruption,  or  be  licked  up  by  the  flames  of  burning 
houses.  The  city  was  shaken  to  its  foundations  by  six 
teen  thousand  shells,  and  the  explosion  of  forty-five 
thousand  pounds  of  powder  in  the  mines,  —  while  the 
bones  of  forty  thousand  victims,  of  every  age  and  both 
sexes,  bore  dreadful  testimony  to  the  unutterable  cruelty 
of  War.1 

These  might  seem  pictures  from  the  life  of  Alaric, 
who  led  the  Goths  to  Rome,  or  of  Attila,  general  of 
the  Huns,  called  the  Scourge  of  God,  and  who  boasted 
that  the  grass  did  not  grow  where  his  horse  had  set 
his  foot ;  but  no !  they  belong  to  our  own  times.  They 
are  portions  of  the  wonderful,  but  wicked,  career  of 
him  who  stands  forth  the  foremost  representative  of 
worldly  grandeur.  The  heart  aches,  as  we  follow  him 
and  his  marshals  from  field  to  field  of  Satanic  glory,2 
finding  everywhere,  from  Spain  to  Russia,  the  same 
carnival  of  woe.  The  picture  is  various,  yet  the  same. 
Suffering,  wounds,  and  death,  in  every  form,  fill  the 
terrible  canvas.  What  scene  more  dismal  than  that 
of  Albuera,  with  its  horrid  piles  of  corpses,  while  all 
night  the  rain  pours  down,  and  river,  hill,  and  forest, 

1  Napier,  Book  V.  ch.  8,  Vol.  II.  p.  4«. 

*  A  living  poet  of  Italy,  who  will  bo  placed  by  his  prows  among  the  great 
names  of  hi*  country's  literature,  in  n  remarkable  ode  which  he  has  thrown 
on  the  nrn  of  Napoleon  invites  posterity  to  judge  whether  his  career  of 
battle  was  True  Glory. 

"  Fu  vera  gloria?  Ai  ponteri 

I,'  an! n:i  nentenza."  —  MAX/OXI,  //  Cinqve  Mnggio. 
When  men  learn  to  appreciate  moral  grandeur,  the  easy  sentence  will  be 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  25 

on  each  side,  resound  with  the  cries  and  groans  of  the 
dying  ? l  What  scene  more  awfully  monumental  than 
Salamanca,  where,  long  after  the  great  battle,  the 
ground,  strewn  with  fragments  of  casques  and  cui- 
i-asses,  was  still  white  with  the  skeletons  of  those  who 
fell  ?  ?  "What  catalogue  of  horrors  more  complete  than 
the  Eussian  campaign  ?  At  every  step  is  war,  and 
this  is  enough :  soldiers  black  with  powder ;  bayonets 
bent  with  the  violence  of  the  encounter;  the  earth 
ploughed  with  cannon-shot ;  trees  torn  and  mutilated ; 
the  dead  and  dying;  wounds  and  agony;  fields  cov 
ered  with  broken  carriages,  outstretched  horses,  and 
mangled  bodies ;  while  disease,  sad  attendant  on  mili 
tary  suffering,  sweeps  thousands  from  the  great  hos 
pitals,  and  the  multitude  of  amputated  limbs,  which 
there  is  no  time  to  destroy,  accumulate  in  bloody  heaps, 
filling  the  air  with  corruption.  What  tongue,  what  pen, 
can  describe  the  bloody  havoc  at  Borodino,  where, 
between  rise  and  set  of  a  single  sun,  one  hundred 
thousand  of  our  fellow-men,  equalling  in  number  the 
whole  population  of  this  city,  sank  to  earth,  dead  or 
wounded  ? 3  Fifty  days  after  the  battle,  no  less  than 
thirty  thousand  are  found  stretched  where  their  last 
convulsions  ended,  and  the  whole  plain  is  strewn  with 
half-buried  carcasses  of  men  and  horses,  intermingled 
with  garments  dyed  in  blood,  and  bones  gnawed  by 
dogs  and  vultures.4  Who  can  follow  the  French  army 
in  dismal  retreat,  avoiding  the  spear  of  the  pursuing 
Cossack  only  to  sink  beneath  the  sharper  frost  and  ice, 

1  Napier,  Book  XII.  ch.  7,  Vol.  III.  p.  643. 
a  Alison,  Ch.  64,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  689. 
«  Ibid.,  Ch.  67,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  871. 

*  Ibid.,  Ch.  68,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  930.    Sc'pir,  Hist,  de  Napole"on,  Liv.  IX.  ch.  7, 
Tom.  II.  p.  163.    Labaume,  Rel.  de  la  Cumpagiie  de  Russie,  Liv.  VII. 
VOL.    I.  2 


26  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

in  a  temperature  below  zero,  on  foot,  without  shelter  for 
the  body,  famishing  on  horse-flesh  and  a  miserable  com 
pound  of  rye  and  snow-water  ?  With  a  fresh  array,  the 
war  is  upheld  against  new  forces  under  the  walls  of 
Dresden ;  and  as  the  Emperor  rides  over  the  field  of 
battle  —  after  indulging  the  night  before  in  royal 
supper  with  the  Saxon  king  —  he  sees  ghastly  new- 
made  graves,  with  hands  and  arms  projecting,  stark 
and  stiff,  above  the  ground;  and  shortly  afterwards, 
when  shelter  is  needed  for  the  troops,  the  order  to 
occupy  the  Hospitals  for  the  Insane  is  given,  with  the 
words,  "  Turn  out  the  mad." 1 

Here  I  might  close  this  scene  of  blood.  But  there 
is  one  other  picture  of  the  atrocious,  though  natural, 
consequences  of  war,  occurring  almost  within  our  own 
day,  that  I  would  not  omit.  Let  me  bring  to  your 
mind  Genoa,  called  the  Superb,  City  of  Palaces,  dear 
to  the  memory  of  American  childhood  as  the  birth 
place  of  Christopher  Columbus,  and  one  of  the  spots 
first  enlightened  Ijy  the  morning  beams  of  civilization, 
whose  merchants  were  princes,  and  whose  rich  argosies, 
in  those  early  days,  introduced  to  Europe  the  choicest 
products  of  the  East,  the  linen  of  Egypt,  the  spices  of 
Arabia,  and  the  silks  of  Samarcand.  She  still  sits  in 
queenly  pride,  as  she  sat  then,  —  her  mural  crown  stud 
ded  with  towers,  —  her  churches  rich  with  marble  floors 
and  rarest  pictures,  —  her  palaces  of  ancient  doges  and 
admirals  yet  spared  by  the  hand  of  Time, —  her  close 
streets  thronged  by  a  hundred  thousand  inhabitants, 
—  at  the  foot  of  the  Apennines,  as  they  approach 
the  blue  and  tideless  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 

1  Alison,  Ch.  72,  Vol.  IX.  pp.  468,  668. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDETB   OF  NATIONS.  27 

—  leaning  her  back  against  their  strong  mountain-sides, 
overshadowed  by  the  foliage  of  the  fig-tree  and  the 
olive,  while  the  orange  and  the  lemon  with  pleasant 
perfume  scent  the  air  where  reigns  perpetual  spring. 
Who  can  contemplate  such  a  city  without  delight  ?  Who 
can  listen  to  the  story  of  her  sorrows  without  a  pang  ? 

At  the  opening  of  the  present  century,  the  armies  of 
the  French  Republic,  after  dominating  over  Italy,  were 
driven  from  their  conquests,  and  compelled,  with 
shrunken  forces,  to  find  shelter  under  Massena,  within 
the  walls  of  Genoa.  Various  efforts  were  made  by  the 
Austrian  general,  aided  by  bombardment  from  the  Brit 
ish  fleet,  to  force  the  strong  defences  by  assault.  At 
length  the  city  was  invested  by  a  strict  blockade.  All 
communication  with  the  country  was  cut  off,  while  the 
harbor  was  closed  by  the  ever-wakeful  British  watch 
dogs  of  war.  Besides  the  French  troops,  within  the 
beleaguered  and  unfortunate  city  are  the  peaceful,  un 
offending  inhabitants.  Provisions  soon  become  scarce ; 
scarcity  sharpens  into  want,  till  fell  Famine,  bringing 
blindness  and  madness  in  her  train,-  rages  like  an  Erin- 
nys.  Picture  to  yourselves  this  large  population,  not 
pouring  out  their  lives  in  the  exulting  rush  of  battle, 
but  wasting  at  noonday,  daughter  by  the  side  of  moth 
er,  husband  by  the  side  of  wife.  When  grain  and 
rice  fail,  flaxseed,  millet,  cocoa,  and  almonds  are  ground 
by  hand-mills  into  flour,  and  even  bran,  baked  with 
honey,  is  eaten,  less  to  satisfy  than  to  deaden  hunger. 
Before  the  last  extremities,  a  pound  of  horse-flesh  is 
sold  for  thirty-two  cents,  a  pound  of  bran  for  thirty 
cents,  a  pound  of  flour  for  one  dollar  and  seventy-five 
cents.  A  single  .bean  is  soon  sold  for  two  cents,  and 
a  biscuit  of  three  ounces  for  two  dollars  and  a  quarter, 


28  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

till  finally  none  can  be  had  at  any  price.  The  wretch 
ed  soldiers,  after  devouring  the  horses,  are  reduced  to 
the  degradation  of  feeding  on  dogs,  cats,  rats,  and 
worms,  which  are  eagerly  hunted  in  cellars  and 
sewers.  "Happy  were  now,"  exclaims  an  Italian 
historian,  "  not  those  who  lived,  but  those  who  died ! " 
The  day  is  dreary  from  hunger,  —  the  night  more 
dreary  still,  from  hunger  with  delirious  fancies.  They 
now  turn  to  herbs,  —  dock,  sorrel,  mallows,  wild 
succory.  People  of  every  condition,  with  women  of 
noble  birth  and  beauty,  seek  upon  the  slope  of  the 
mountain  within  the  defences  those  aliments  which 
Nature  designed  solely  for  beasts.  Scanty  vegetables, 
with  a  scrap  of  cheese,  are  all  that  can  be  afforded  to 
the  sick  and  wounded,  those  sacred  stipendiaries  of 
human  charity.  In  the  last  anguish  of  despair,  men 
and  women  fill  the  air  with  groans  and  shrieks,  some 
in  spasms,  convulsions,  and  contortions,  yielding  their 
expiring  breath  on  the  unpi tying  stones  of  the  street,  — 
alas !  not  more  unpitying  than  man.  Children,  whom 
a  dead  mother's  arms  had  ceased  to  protect,  orphans 
of  an  hour,  with  piercing  cries,  supplicate  in  vain 
the  compassion  of  the  passing  stranger:  none  pity  or 
aid.  The  sweet  fountains  of  sympathy  are  all  closed 
by  the  selfishness  of  individual  distress.  In  the  gen 
eral  agony,  some  precipitate  themselves  into  the  sea, 
while  the  more  impetuous  rush  from  the  gates,  and 
impale  their  bodies  on  the  Austrian  bayonets.  Oth 
ers  still  are  driven  to  devour  their  shoes  and  the 
leather  of  their  pouches ;  and  the  horror  of  human  flesh 
so  far  abates,  that  numbers  feed  like  cannibals  on  the 
corpses  about  them.1 

*  This  account  is  drawn  from  the  animated  sketches  of  Botta  (Storia 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  29 

At  this  stage  the  French  general  capitulated,  claiming 
and  receiving  what  are  called  "  the  honors  of  war,"  — 
but  not  before  twenty  thousand  innocent  persons,  old 
and  young,  women  and  children,  having  no  part  or  in 
terest  in  the  contest,  had  died  the  most  horrible  of 
deaths.  The  Austrian  flag  floated  over  captured  Genoa 
but  a  brief  span  of  time;  for  Bonaparte  had  already 
descended  like  an  eagle  from  the  Alps,  and  in  nine  days 
afterwards,  on  the  plains  of  Marengo,  shattered  the 
Austrian  empire  in  Italy. 

But  wasted  lands,  famished  cities,  and  slaughtered 
armies  are  not  all  that  is  contained  in  "  the  purple  tes 
tament  of  bleeding  war."  Every  soldier  is  connected 
with  others,  as  all  of  you,  by  dear  ties  of  kindred,  love, 
and  friendship.  He  has  been  sternly  summoned  from 
the  embrace  of  family.  To  him  there  is  perhaps  an 
aged  mother,  who  fondly  hoped  to  lean  her  bend 
ing  years  on  his  more  youthful  form ;  perhaps  a  wife, 
whose  life  is  just  entwined  inseparably  with  his,  now 
condemned  to  wasting  despair ;  perhaps  sisters,  brothers. 
As  he  falls  on  the  field  of  war,  must  not  all  these  rush 
with  his  blood  ?  But  who  can  measure  the  distress  that 

d'  Italia  dal  1789  al  1814,  Tom.  III.  Lib.  19),  Alison  (History  of  Europe, 
Vol.  IV.  ch.  30),  and  Arnold  (Modern  History,  Lect.  IV.).  The  hnmanity 
of  the  last  is  particularly  aroused  to  condemn  this  most  atrocious  murder  of 
innocent  people,  and,  as  a  sufficient  remedy,  he  suggests  a  modification  of 
the  Laws  of  War,  permitting  non-combatants  to  withdraw  from  a  block 
aded  town !  In  this  way,  indeed,  they  may  be  spared  a  languishing  death  by 
starvation;  but  they  must  desert  firesides,  pursuits, all  that  makes  life  dear, 
and  become  homeless  exiles,  —  a  fate  little  better  than  the  former.  It  is 
strange  that  Arnold's  pure  soul  and  clear  judgment  did  not  recognize  the 
truth,  that  the  whole  custom  of  war  is  unrighteous  and  unlawful,  ami  that 
the  horrors  of  this  siege  are  its  natural  consequence.  Laws  of  War!  Laws 
in  what  is  lawless!  rules  of  wrong!  There  can  be  only  one  Late  of  War, — 
that  is,  the  great  law  which  pronounces  it  unwise,  unjust,  and  unchristian. 


30  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATION'S. 

radiates  as  from  a  bloody  sun,  penetrating  innumerable 
homes  ?  Who  can  give  the  gauge  and  dimensions  of 
this  infinite  sorrow  ?  Tell  me,  ye  who  feel  the  bitter 
ness  of  parting  with  dear  friends  and  kindred,  whom  you 
watch  tenderly  till  the  last  golden  sands  are  run  out  and 
the  great  hour-glass  is  turned,  what  is  the  measure  of 
your  anguish  ?  Your  friend  departs,  soothed  by  kind 
ness  and  in  the  arms  of  Love :  the  soldier  gasps  out  his 
life  with  no  friend  near,  while  the  scowl  of  Hate  dark 
ens  all  that  he  beholds,  darkens  his  own  departing  soul. 
"Who  can  forget  the  anguish  that  fills  the  bosom  and 
crazes  the  brain  of  Lenore,  in  the  matchless  ballad  of 
Burger,  when  seeking  in  vain  among  returning  squad 
rons  for  her  lover  left  dead  on  Prague's  ensanguined 
plain  ?  But  every  field  of  blood  has  many  Lenores.  All 
war  is  full  of  desolate  homes,  as  is  vividly  pictured  by 
a  master  poet  of  antiquity,  whose  verse  is  an  argument. 

"  But  through  the  bounds  of  Grecia's  land, 
Who  sent  her  sons  for  Troy  to  part, 
See  mourning,  with  much  suffering  heart, 
On  each  man's  threshold  stand, 
On  each  sad  hearth  in  Grecia's  land. 
Well  may  her  soul  with  grief  be  rent; 
She  well  remembers  whom  she  sent, 
She  see*  them  not  return: 
Instead  of  men,  to  each  man's  home 
t"rn«  and  ashe*  only  come, 
And  the  armor  which  they  wore, —          . 
Sad  relics  to  their  native  shore. 
For  Mars,  the  barterer  of  the  lifeless  clay, 
Who  «ells  for  gold  the  slain, 
And  Mth  tkt  trnle,  in  battle" »  doubtful  day, 
fliffh  Mnnffd  oVr  thr  plnin, 
From  Ilium'«  wn!1«  for  men  returns 
Ashes  and  sepulchral  urn«,  — 
Ashes  wet  with  many  a  tear, 
Sml  relic*  of  the  fiery  bier. 
Round  tlio  full  urn*  the  pcneral  groan 
Goes,  as  each  their  kindred  own: 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  31 

One  they  mourn  in  battle  strong, 
And  one  that  'mid  the  armed  throng 
He  sunk  in  glory's  slaughtering  tide, 
And  for  another's  consort  died. 

Others  they  mourn  whose  monuments  stand 
By  Ilium's  walls  on  foreign  strand; 
Where  they  fell  in  beauty's  bloom, 
There  they  lie  in  hated  tomb, 
Sunk  beneath  the  massy  mound, 
In  eternal  chambers  bound."  1 


III. 


But  all  these  miseries  are  to  no  purpose.  "War  is 
utterly  ineffectual  to  secure  or  advance  its  professed 
object.  The  wretchedness  it  entails  contributes  to  no 
end,  helps  to  establish  no  right,  and  therefore  in  no  re 
spect  determines  justice  between  the  contending  nations. 

The  fraitlessness  and  vanity  of  war  appear  in  the 
great  conflicts  by  which  the  world  has  been  lacerated. 
After  long  struggle,  where  each  nation  inflicts  and  re 
ceives  incalculable  injury,  peace  is  gladly  obtained  on 
the  basis  of  the  condition  before  the  war,  known  as  the 
statiis  ante  bellum.  I  cannot  illustrate  this  futility  bet 
ter  than  by  the  familiar  example  —  humiliating  to  both 
countries  —  of  our  last  war  with  Great  Britain,  where 
the  professed  object  was  to  obtain  a  renunciation  of 
the  British  claim,  so  defiantly  asserted,  to  impress  our 
seamen.  To  overturn  this  injustice  the  Arbitrament 
of  War  was  invoked,  and  for  nearly  three  years  the 
whole  country  was  under  its  terrible  ban.  Ameri 
can  commerce  was  driven  from  the  seas ;  the  re- 

1  Agamemnon  of  jEschyms:  Chorus,    This  is  from  the  beautiful  transla 
tion  by  John  Symmons. 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS. 

sources  of  the  land  were  drained  by  taxation ;  villages 
on  the  Canadian  frontier  were  laid  in  ashes ;  the  me 
tropolis  of  the  Republic  was  captured ;  while  distress 
was  everywhere  within  our  borders.  Weary  at  last 
witli  this  rude  trial,  the  National  Government  appointed 
commissioners  to  treat  for  peace,  with  these  specific  in 
structions  :  "  Your  first  duty  will  be  to  conclude  a  peace 
with  Great  Britain  ;  and  you  are  authorized  to  do  it,  in 
case  you  obtain  a  satisfactory  stipulation  against  im 
pressment,  one  which  shall  secure  under  our  flag  protec 
tion  to  the  crew If  this  encroachment  of  Great 

Britain  is  not  provided  against,  the  United  States  have 
appealed  to  arms  in  vain" l  Afterwards,  finding  small 
chance  of  extorting  from  Great  Britain  a  relinquishment 
of  the  unrighteous  claim,  and  foreseeing  from  the  invet 
erate  prosecution  of  the  war  only  an  accumulation  of 
calamities,  the  National  Government  directed  the  nego 
tiators,  in  concluding  a  treaty,  to  "  omit  any  stipulation 
on  the  subject  of  impressment."  a  These  instructions  were 
obeyed,  and  the  treaty  that  restored  to  us  once  more 
the  blessings  of  peace,  so  rashly  cast  away,  but  now 
hailed  with  intoxication  of  joy,  contained  no  allusion 
to  impressment,  nor  did  it  provide  for  the  surrender 
of  a  single  American  sailor  detained  in  the  British 
navy.  Thus,  by  the  confession  of  our  own  Govern 
ment,  "the  United  States  had  appealed  to  arms  IN 
VAIN."8  These  important  words  are  not  mine;  they 
are  words  of  the  country. 

1  Mr.  Monroe  to  Commissioners,  April  15, 1818:  American  State  Papers, 
Vol.  VIII.  pp.  677,678. 

*  Mr.  Monroe  to  Commissioners,  June  27, 1814  :  Ibid.,  Vol.  VIII  p.  698. 

1  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  more  than  one  letter,  declares  the  peace  an  armiiticc 
on/jf,  "  because  no  security  is  provided  against  the  impressment  of  our 
seamen."  —  Letter  to  Crawford,  Feb.  11, 1816;  to  Lafayette,  Feb.  14,  1815: 
Works,  Vol.  VI.  pp.  420,  427. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  33 

All  this  is  the  natural  result  of  an  appeal  to  war  for 
the  determination  of  justice.  Justice  implies  the  exer 
cise  of  the  judgment.  Now  war  not  only  supersedes 
the  judgment,  but  delivers  over  the  pending  question  to 
superiority  of  force,  or  to  chance. 

Superior  force  may  end  in  conquest ;  this  is  the  nat 
ural  consequence ;  but  it  cannot  adjudicate  any  right. 
We  expose  the  absurdity  of  its  arbitrament,  when,  by  a 
familiar  phrase  of  sarcasm,  we  deride  the  right  of  the 
strongest,  —  excluding,  of  course,  all  idea  of  right,  ex 
cept  that  of  the  lion  as  he  springs  upon  a  weaker  beast, 
of  the  wolf  as  he  tears  in  pieces  the  lamb,  of  the  vul 
ture  as  he  devours  the  dove.  The  grossest  spirits  must 
admit  that  this  is  not  justice. 

But  the  battle  is  not  always  to  the  strong.  Superior 
ity  of  force  is  often  checked  by  the  proverbial  contin 
gencies  of  war.  Especially  are  such  contingencies  re 
vealed  in  rankest  absurdity,  where  nations,  as  is  the 
acknowledged  custom^  without  regard  to  their  respective 
forces,  whether  weaker  or  stronger,  voluntarily  appeal 
to  this  mad  umpirage.  Who  beforehand  can  measure 
the  currents  of  the  heady  fight  ?  In  common  language, 
we  confess  the  "  chances  "  of  battle ;  and  soldiers  devoted 
to  this  harsh  vocation  yet  call  it  a  "  game."  The  Great 
Captain  of  our  age,  who  seemed  to  drag  victory  at  his 
chariot-wheels,  in  a  formal  address  to  his  officers,  on 
entering  Russia,  says,  "In  war,  fortune  has  an  equal 
share  with  ability  in  success."  1  The  famous  victory  of 
Marengo,  accident  of  an  accident,  wrested  unexpectedly 
at  close  of  day  from  a  foe  at  an  earlier  hour  success 
ful,  taught  him  the  uncertainty  of  war.  Afterwards, 
in  bitterness  of  spirit,  when  his  immense  forces  were 

l  Alison,  Ch.  67,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  815. 
2»  C 


34  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

shivered,  and  his  triumphant  eagles  driven  back  with 
broken  wing,  he  exclaimed,  in  that  remarkable  con 
versation  recorded  by  his  secretary,  Fain, —  "  Well,  this 
is  War !  High  in  the  morning,  —  low  enough  at  night ! 
From  a  triumph  to  a  fall  is  often  but  a  step." l  The 
same  sentiment  is  repeated  by  the  military  historian  of 
the  Peninsular  campaigns,  when  he  says,  "  Fortune  al- 
AVUVS  asserts  her  supremacy  in  war;  and  often  from 
a  slight  mistake  such  disastrous  consequences  flow, 
that,  in  every  age  and  every  nation,  the  uncertainty 
of  anns  has  been  proverbial."  2  And  again,  in  another 
place,  considering  the  conduct  of  Wellington,  the  same 
military  historian,  who  is  an  unquestionable  authority, 
confesses,  "  A  few  hours'  delay,  an  accident,  a  turn  of 
fortune,  and  he  would  have  been  foiled.  Ay  !  but  this 
is  War,  always  dangerous  and  uncertain,  an  ever-rolling 
wheel,  and  armed  with  scythes."  *  And  will  intelligent 
man  look  for  justice  to  an  ever-rolling  wheel  armed 
with  scythes  ? 

Chance  is  written  on  every  battle-field.  Discerned 
less  in  the  conflict  of  large  masses  than  in  that  of  in 
dividuals,  it  is  equally  present  in  both.  How  capri 
ciously  the  wheel  turned  when  the  fortunes  of  Home 
were  staked  on  the  combat  between  the  Horatii  and 
Curiatii !  —  and  who,  at  one  time,  augured  that  the 
single  Horatius,  with  two  slain  brothers  on  the  field, 
would  overpower  the  three  living  enemies  ?  But  this 
is  not  alone.  In  all  the  combats  of  history,  involving 
the  fate  of  individuals  or  nations,  we  learn  to  revolt  at 
the  frenzy  which  carries  questions  of  property,  freedom, 
or  life  to  a  judgment  so  uncertain  and  senseless.  The 
humorous  poet  fitly  exposes  its  hazards,  when  he  says,  — 

l  A1i«on,  Ch.  72,  Vol.  IX.  p.  <9T. 

«  Xnpier.  Book  XXIV.  ch.  6.  Vol.  VI.  p.  687. 

«  Ibid..  Book  XVI.  ch.  7,  V..1.  IV.  p.  47«. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  35 

41  that  a  turnstile  is  more  certain 
Than,  in  events  of  war,  Dame  Fortune." 1 

During  the  early  modern  centuries,  and  especially  in 
the  moral  night  of  the  Dark  Ages,  the  practice  prevailed 
extensively  throughout  Europe  of  invoking  this  adju 
dication  for  controversies,  whether  of  individuals  or 
communities.  I  do  not  dwell  on  the  custom  of  Private 
War,  though  it  aptly  illustrates  the  subject,  stopping 
merely  to  echo  that  joy  which,  in  a  time  of  igno 
rance,  before  this  arbitrament  yielded  gradually  to  the 
ordinances  of  monarchs  and  an  advancing  civiliza 
tion,  hailed  its  temporary  suspension  as  Tlie  Truce  of 
God.  But  this  beautiful  term,  most  suggestive,  and  his 
torically  important,  cannot  pass  without  the  attention 
which  belongs  to  it.  Such  a  truce  is  still  an  example, 
and  also  an  argument ;  but  it  is  for  nations.  Here  is 
something  to  be  imitated  ;  and  here  also  is  an  appeal  to 
the  reason.  If  individuals  or  communities  once  rec 
ognized  the  Truce  of  God,  why  not  again  ?  And  why 
may  not  its.  benediction  descend  upon  nations  also  ?  Its 
origin  goes  back  to  the  darkest  night.  It  was  in  1032 
that  the  Bishop  of  Aquitaine  announced  the  appear 
ance  of  an  angel  with  a  message  from  Heaven,  engag 
ing  men  to  cease  from  war  and  be  reconciled.  The 
people,  already  softened  by  calamity  and  disposed  to 
supernatural  impressions,  hearkened  to  the  sublime  mes 
sage,  and  consented.  From  sunset  Thursday  to  sunrise 
Monday  each  week,  also  during  Advent  and  Lent,  and 
at  the  great  festivals,  all  effusion  of  blood  was  inter 
dicted,  and  no  man  could  molest  his  adversary.  Women, 
children,  travellers,  merchants,  laborers,  were  assured 
perpetual  peace.  Every  church  was  made  an  asylum, 

1  Hudibras,  Part  I.  Canto  8,  vv.  23.  24. 


36  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATION'S. 

and,  by  happy  association,  the  plough  also  sheltered 
from  peril  all  who  came  to  it.  This  respite,  justly 
regarded  as  marvellous,  was  hailed  as  the  Truce  of  God. 
Beginning  in  one  neighborhood,  it  was  piously  extended 
until  it  embraced  the  whole  kingdom,  and  then,  by  the 
authority  of  the  Pope,  became  coextensive  with  Chris 
tendom,  while  those  who  violated  it  were  put  uinlrr 
solemn  ban.  As  these  things  passed,  bishops  lifted  their 
crosses,  and  the  people  in  their  gladness  cried,  Peace  ! 
Peace. ! l  Originally  too  limited  in  operation  and  too 
short  in  duration,  the  Truce  of  God  must  again  be  pro 
claimed  for  all  places  and  all  times, —  proclaimed  to  all 
mankind  and  all  nations,  without  distinction  of  person 
or  calling,  on  all  days  of  the  week,  without  distinction 
of  sacred  days  or  festivals,  and  with  one  universal 
asylum,  not  merely  the  church  and  the  plough,  but 
every  place  and  thing. 

From  Private  "Wars,  whose  best  lesson  is  the  Truce  of 
God,  by  which  for  a  time  they  were  hushed,  I  come  to 
the  Judicial  Combat,  or  Trial  by  Battle,  where,  as  in  a 
mirror,  we  behold  the  barbarism  of  War,  without  truce 
of  any  kind.  Trial  by  Battle  was  a  formal  and  legiti 
mate  mode  of  deciding  controversies,  principally  be 
tween  individuals.  Like  other  ordeals,  by  walking 
barefoot  and  blindfold  among  burning  ploughshares, 
by  holding  hot  iron,  by  dipping  the  hand  in  hot  water 
or  hot  oil,  and  like  the  great  Ordeal  of  War,  it  AVOS 
a  presumptuous  appeal  to  Providence,  under  the  ap 
prehension  and  hope  that  Heaven  would  give  the  vic 
tory  to  him  who  had  the  right.  Its  object  was  the 

i  Robertson,  Hint,  of  Charles  V.,  Vol.  I.  note  21.    Semichon,  La  I'aix  et 
la  Treve  de  Dieu,  Tom.  11.  pp.  86,  68. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  37 

very  object  of  War,  —  the  determination  of  Jiistice. 
It  was  sanctioned  by  Municipal  Law  as  an  arbitrament 
for  individuals,  as  War,  to  the  scandal  of  civilization 
is  still  sanctioned  by  International  Law  as  an  arbitra 
ment  for  nations.  "Men,"  says  the  brilliant  French 
man,  Montesquieu,  "subject  even  their  prejudices  to 
rules  " ;  and  Trial  by  Battle,  which  he  does  not  hesitate 
to  denounce  as  a  "monstrous  usage,"  was  surrounded  by 
artificial  regulations  of  multifarious  detail,  constituting 
an  extensive  system,  determining  how  and  when  it 
should  be  waged,  as  War  is  surrounded  by  a  complex 
code,  known  as  the  Laws  of  War.  "Nothing,"  says 
Montesquieu  again,  "could  be  more  contrary  to  good 
sense,  but,  once  established,  it  was  executed  with  a  cer 
tain  prudence,"  —  which  is  equally  true  of  War.  No 
battle-field  for  an  army  is  selected  with  more  care  than 
was  the  field  for  Trial  by  Battle.  An  open  space  in  the 
neighborhood  of  a  church  was  often  reserved  for  this 
purpose.  At  the  famous  Abbey  of  Saint-Germain-des- 
Pres,  in  Paris,  there  was  a  tribune  for  the  judges,  over 
looking  the  adjoining  meadow,  which  served  for  the 
field.1  The  combat  was  inaugurated  by  a  solemn  mass, 
according  to  a  form  still  preserved,  Missa  pro  Duello,  so 
that,  in  ceremonial  and  sanction,  as  in  the  field,  the 
Church  was  constantly  present.  Champions  were  hired, 
as  soldiers  now.2 

No  question  was  too  sacred,  grave,  or  recondite  for  this 

1  Sismondi,  Hist,  des  Franeais,  Part.  V.  ch.  9,  Tom.  X.  p.  514. 

2  The  pivotal  character  of  Trial  by  Battle,  as  an  illustration  of  War,  will 
justify  a  reference  to  the  modern  authorities,  among  which  are  Robertson, 
who  treats  it  with  perspicuity  and  fulness  (History  of  Charles  V,  Vol.  I. 
note  22), —  Hallam,  always  instructive  (Middle  Ages,  Vol.  I.  Chap.  II.  pt.  2), 
—  Hlackstone,  always  clear  (Commentaries,  Book  III.  ch.  22,  sec.  5,  nnd 
Book  IV.  ch.  27,  sec.  8),  —  Montesquieu,  who  custs   upon   it  a  flood  of 


38  THE  TRUE  GRJLNDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

trilmiKil.  In  France,  the  title  of  an  Abbey  to  a  neigh 
boring  church  was  decided  by  it;  and  an  Emperor  of 
Germany,  according  to  a  faithful  ecclesiastic,  "desir 
ous  of  dealing  honorably  with  his  people  and  nobles  " 
(mark  here  the  standard  of  honor  !),  waived  the  judgment 
of  the  court  on  a  grave  question  of  law  concerning  the 
descent  of  property,  and  referred  it  to  champions.  Hu 
man  folly  did  not  stop  here.  In  Spain,  a  subtile  point 
of  theology  was  submitted  to  the  same  determination.1 
But  Trial  by  Battle  was  not  confined  to  particular  coun 
tries  or  to  rare  occasions.  It  prevailed  everywhere  in 
Europe,  superseding  in  many  places  all  other  ordeals, 
and  even  Trials  by  Proofs,  while  it  extended  not  only  to 
criminal  matters,  but  to  questions  of  property.  In  Or 
leans  it  had  an  exceptional  limitation,  being  denied  in 
civil  matters  where  the  amount  did  not  exceed  five  sous.2 
Like  War  in  our  day,  its  justice  and  fitness  as  an 
arbitrament  were  early  doubted  or  condemned.  Liut- 
prand,  a  king  of  the  Lombards,  during  that  middle  period 
neither  ancient  nor  modern,  in  a  law  bearing  date  A.  D. 

light  (Esprit  des  Lois,  Liv.  XXVIII.  ch.  18-83),  — Sismondi,  hnmnne  and 
interesting  (Histoire  des  Francais,  Part.  IV.  ch.  11,  Tom.  VIII.  pp. 
72  -  78),  —  Guizot,  in  a  work  of  remarkable  historic  beauty,  more  grave  than 
Montesquieu,  and  enlightened  by  a  better  philosophy  (Histoire  de  la  Civili 
sation  en  France  depui*  la  Chute  de  TEmpire  Remain,  Tom.  IV.  pp.  89, 149- 
!««),— Wheaton,  our  learned  countryman  (History  of  the  Northmen.  Chap. 
111.  and  XII.), —  also  the  two  volumes  of  Millingen's  History  of  Duelling,  if 
so  loose  a  compend  deserves  a  place  in  this  list.  All  these.  de-K-ril>ing 
Trial  by  Battle,  testify  against  War.  I  cannot  conceal  that  so  great  an  au 
thority  as  Selden,  a  most  enlightened  jurist  of  the  Long  Parliament,  argues 
the  lawfulness  of  the  Duel  from  the  lawfulness  of  War.  After  setting 
forth  that  "a  due!  may  be  granted  in  some  cases  by  the  law  of  England," 
he  asks,  "  But  whether  is  this  lawful?"  and  then  answers,  "  /fynu  ijrnni, 
n*y  war  hirful,  I  make  no  doubt  but  to  convince  it"  (Table-Talk:  /W.) 
But  if  the  Duel  be  unlawful,  how  then  with  War? 

1  Robertson,  Hist.  Charles  V.,  Vol.  I  note  22. 

*  Montesquieu,  Esprit  des  Lois,  Liv.  XXVIII.  ch.  19. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  39 

724,  declares  his  distrust  of  it  as  a  mode  of  determin 
ing  justice ;  but  the  monarch  is  compelled  to  add,  that, 
considering  the  custom  of  his  Lombard  people,  he  can 
not  forbid  the  impious  law.  His  words  deserve  em 
phatic  mention:  " Propter  consuetudinem  gentis  nostrce 
Langobardorum  LEGEM  IMPIAM  vetare  non  possumus.." 1 
The  appropriate  epithet  by  which  he  branded  Trial  by 
Battle  is  the  important  bequest  of  the  royal  Lombard  to 
a  distant  posterity.  For  this  the  lawgiver  will  be  cher 
ished  with  grateful  regard  in  the  annals  of  civilization. 

This  custom  received  another  blow  from  Eome.  In 
the  latter  part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Don  Pedro 
of  Aragon,  after  exchanging  letters  of  defiance  with 
Charles  of  Anjou,  proposed  a  personal  combat,  which 
was  accepted,  on  condition  that  Sicily  should  be  the 
prize  of  success.  Each  called  down  upon  himself  all 
the  vengeance  of  Heaven,  and  the  last  dishonor,  if,  at 
the  appointed  time,  he  failed  to  appear  before  the  Sen 
eschal  of  Aquitaine,  or,  in  case  of  defeat,  refused  to 
consign  Sicily  undisturbed  to  the  victor.  While  they 
were  preparing  for  the  lists,  the  Pope,  Martin  the 
Fourth,  protested  with  all  his  might  against  this  new 
Trial  by  Battle,  which  staked  the  sovereignty  of  a 
kingdom,  a  feudatory  of  the  Holy  See,  on  a  wild  stroke 
of  chance.  By  a  papal  bull,  dated  at  Civita  Vecchia, 
April  5th,  1283,  he  threatened  excommunication  to 
either  of  the  princes  who  should  proceed  to  a  combat 
which  he  pronounced  criminal  and  abominable.  By  a 
letter  of  the  same  date,  the  Pope  announced  to  Edward 
the  First  of  England,  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  the  agreement 
of  the  two  princes,  which  he  most  earnestly  declared  to 

1  Liutprnndi  Leges,  Lib.  VI.  cap.  65:  Muratori,  Rerura  Italic.  Script ., 
Tom.  I.  paw  2,  p.  74. 


40  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

be  full  of  indecency  and  rashness,  hostile  to  the  con 
cord  of  Christendom,  and  reckless  of  Christian  blood ; 
and  he  urged  upon  the  English  monarch  all  ]><>ssil>U- 
effort  to  prevent  the  combat,  —  menacing  him  with  ex 
communication,  and  his  territories  with  interdict,  if  it 
should  take  place.  Edward  refusing  to  guaranty  the 
safety  of  the  combatants  in  Aquitaine,  the  parties  re 
tired  without  consummating  their  duel.1  The  judgment 
of  the  Holy  See,  which  thus  accomplished  its  immedi 
ate  object,  though  not  in  terms  directed  to  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  custom,  remains,  nevertheless,  from  its  peculiar 
energy,  a  perpetual  testimony  against  Trial  by  Battle. 

To  a  monarch  of  France  belongs  the  honor  of  first 
interposing  the  royal  authority  for  the  entire  suppres 
sion  within  his  jurisdiction  of  this  impious  custom,  so 
universally  adopted,  so  dear  to  the  nobility,  and  so  pro 
foundly  rooted  in  the  institutions  of  the  Feudal  Age. 
And  here  let  me  pause  with  reverence  as  I  pronounce  the 
name  of  St.  Louis,  a  prince  whose  unenlightened  errors 
may  find  easy  condemnation  in  an  age  of  larger  tolera 
tion  and  wider  knowledge,  but  whose  firm  and  upright 
soul,  exalted  sense  of  justice,  fatherly  regard  for  the 
happiness  of  his  people,  respect  for  the  rights  of  others, 
conscience  void  of  offence  toward  God  or  man,  make 
him  foremost  among  Christian  rulers,  and  the  highest 
example  for  Christian  prince  or  Christian  people,  —  in 
one  word,  a  model  of  True  Greatness.  He  was  of 
angelic  conscience,  subjecting  whatever  he  did  to  the 
single  and  exclusive  test  of  moral  rectitude,  disregard 
ing  every  consideration  of  worldly  advantage,  all  fear 
of  worldly  consequences. 

l  Sismondi,  Hist  dec  Franfais,  Part  IV.  ch.  15,  Tom.  VIII.  pp.  338  -  347. 


THE  TKUE   GRANDEUE   OF  NATIONS.  41 

His  soul,  thus  tremblingly  sensitive  to  right,  was 
shocked  at  the  judicial  combat.  It  was  a  sin,  in  his 
sight,  thus  to  tempt  God,  by  demanding  of  him  a  mira 
cle,  whenever  judgment  was  pronounced.  From  these 
intimate  convictions  sprang  a  royal  ordinance,  promul 
gated  first  at  a  Parliament  assembled  in  1260 :  "  We 
forbid  to  all  persons  throughout  our  dominions  the  TRIAL 
BY  BATTLE;  ....  and  instead  of  battles,  we  establish 
proofs  by  witnesses AND  THESE  BATTLES  WE 

ABOLISH   IN   OUR   DOMINIONS   FOREVER."1 

Such  were  the  restraints  on  the  royal  authority,  that 
this  beneficent  ordinance  was  confined  in  operation  to 
the  demesnes  of  the  king,  not  embracing  those  of  the 
barons  and  feudatories.  But  where  the  power  of  the 
sovereign  did  not  reach,  there  he  labored  by  example, 
influence,  and  express  intercession,  —  treating  with  the 
great  vassals,  and  inducing  many  to  renounce  this  un 
natural  usage.  Though  for  years  later  it  continued  to 
vex  parts  of  France,  its  overthrow  commenced  with  the 
Ordinance  of  St.  Louis. 

Honor  and  blessings  attend  this  truly  Christian  king, 
who  submitted  all  his  actions  to  the  Heaven-descended 
sentiment  of  Duty,  —  who  began  a  long  and  illustrious 
reign  by  renouncing  and  restoring  conquests  of  his  pre 
decessor,  saying  to  those  about  him,  whose  souls  did  not 
ascend  to  his  heights,  "  I  know  that  the  predecessors  of 
the  King  of  England  lost  altogether  by  right  the  con 
quest  which  I  hold;  and  the  land  which  I  give  him 
I  do  not  give  because  I  am  bound  to  him  or  his  heirs, 
but  to  put  love  between  my  children  and  his  children,  ivJw 
are  cousins-german ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  what  I 

1  Guizot,  Hist,  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Le<jon  14,  Vol.  IV.  pp. 
162  - 164. 


42  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

thus  give  I  employ  to  good  purpose." l  Honor  to  him 
who  never  by  force  or  cunning  grasped  what  was  not 
his  own,  —  who  sought  no  advantage  from  the  turmoil 
and  dissension  of  his  neighbors,  —  who,  first  of  Chris 
tian  princes,  rebuked  the  Spirit  of  War,  saying  to  those 
who  would  have  him  profit  by  the  strifes  of  others, 
"  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,"  a  —  who,  by  an  immor 
tal  ordinance,  abolished  Trial  by  Battle  throughout  his 
dominions,  —  who  extended  equal  justice  to  all,  whether 
his  own  people  or  his  neighbors,  and  in  the  extremity  of 
his  last  illness,  before  the  walls  of  Tunis,  under  a  burn 
ing  African  sun,  among  the  bequests  of  his  spirit,  en 
joined  on  his  son  and  successor, "  in  maintaining  justice, 
to  be  inflexible  and  loyal,  turning  neither  to  the  right 
hand  nor  to  the  left."8 

To  condemn  Trial  by  Battle  no  longer  requires  the 
sagacity  above  his  age  of  the  Lombard  monarch,  or 
the  intrepid  judgment  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  or  the 
ecstatic  soul  of  St.  Louis.  An  incident  of  history,  as 
curious  as  it  is  authentic,  illustrates  this  point,  and 
shows  the  certain  progress  of  opinion ;  and  this  brings 
me  to  England,  where  this  trial  was  an  undoubted  part  of 
the  early  Common  Law,  with  peculiar  ceremonies  sanc 
tioned  by  the  judges  robed  in  scarlet  The  learned 
Seld'en,  not  content  with  tracing  its  origin,  and  exhib 
iting  its  forms,  with  the  oath  of  the  duellist,  "  As  God  me 
help,  and  his  saints  of  Paradise,"  shows  also  the  copart 
nership  of  the  Church  through  its  liturgy  appointing 
prayers  for  the  occasion.4  For  some  time  it  was  the 

1  Guizot,  Hist  de  In  Cirili«wtion  en  Frnnce,  Le?on  14,  Vol.  IV.  p.  161. 

*  "  Btnoitt  tment  tttit  It  apaitettr.  " — Joinville,  p.  148. 

•  Si.Mnon.li.  Hi*t.  de*  Franca!*,  Pnrt.  IV.  oh.  11,  Tom.  VIII.  p.  19«. 

4  Selden,  The  Duello,  or  Single  Combat,  from  Antiquity  derived  into  this 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  43 

only  mode  of  trying  a  writ  of  right,  by  which  the  title 
to  real  property  was  determined,  and  the  fines  from 
the  numerous  cases  formed  no  inconsiderable  portion  of 
the  King's  revenue.1  It  was  partially  restrained  by 
Henry  the  Second,  under  the  advice  of  his  chief  jus 
ticiary,  the  ancient  law-writer,  Glanville,  substituting 
the  Grand  Assize  as  an  alternative,  on  the  trial  of  a 
writ  of  right ;  and  the  reason  assigned  for  this  substitu 
tion  was  the  uncertainty  of  the  Duel,  so  that  after  many 
and  long  delays  justice  was  scarcely  obtained,  in  con 
trast  with  the  other  trial,  which  was  more  convenient 
and  swift.2  At  a  later  day,  Trial  by  Battle  was  re 
buked  by  Elizabeth,  who  interposed  to  compel  the  par 
ties  to  a  composition,  —  although,  for  the  sake  of  their 
honor,  as  it  was  called,  the  lists  were  marked  out  and 
all  the  preliminary  forms  observed  with  much  cere 
mony.3  It  was  awarded  under  Charles  the  First,  and 
the  proceeding  went  so  far  that  a  day  was  proclaimed 
for  the  combatants  to  appear  with  spear,  long  sword, 
short  sword,  and  dagger,  when  the  duel  was  adjourned 
from  time  to  time,  and  at  last  the  king  compelled 
an  accommodation  without  bloodshed.4  Though  fallen 

Kingdom  of  England;  also,  Table  Talk,  Duel:  Works,  Vol.  III.  col.  49-84, 
2027. 

1  Madox.  Hist,  of  Exchequer,  Vol.  I.  p.  349. 

2  "  Est  autem  magna  Assisa  regale  quoddam  beneficium, ....  quo  vit» 
hominum  et  status  integritati  tarn  salubriter  consulitur,  ut  in  jure  quod  quis 
in  libero  soli  tenemento  possidet  retinendo,  duelli  casum  declinare  posxunt 

homines  ambiguum Jus  enim,  qwxl  pott  multns  et  longat  dilntiimti  rix 

evincitur  per  dutllum,  per  beneficium  istius  constitutionis  comraodius  et  ac- 
celeratius  expeditur."   (Glanville.  Tractatus  de  Legibus  et  Consuetudinibus 
Regni  Angliae,  Lib.  II.  cap.  7.)    These  pointed  words  are  precisely  applica 
ble  to  onr  Arbitrament  of  War,  with  its  many  and  long  delays,  so  little 
productive  of  justice. 

«  Robertson,  Hist.  Charles  V.,  Vol.  I.  note  22. 

4  Proceedings  in  the  Court  of  Chivalry,  on  an  Appeal  of  High  Treason  by 


44  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

into  desuetude,  quietly  overruled  by  the  enlightened 
sense  of  successive  generations,  yet,  to  the  disgrace  of 
English  jurisprudence,  it  was  not  legislatively  abol 
ished  till  near  our  own  day, —  as  late  as  1819, — 
the  right  to  it  having  been  openly  claimed  in  West 
minster  Hall  only  two  years  previous.  An  ignorant 
man,  charged  with  murder,  —  whose  name,  Abraham 
Thornton,  is  necessarily  connected  with  the  history  of 
this  monstrous  usage,  —  being  proceeded  against  by 
the  ancient  process  of  appeal,  pleaded,  when  brought 
into  court,  as  follows  :  "  Xot  guilty ;  and  I  am  ready  to 
defend  the  same  by  my  body " :  and  thereupon  taking 
off  his  glove,  he  threw  it  upon  the  floor.  The  appellant, 
not  choosing  to  accept  this  challenge,  abandoned  his 
proceedings.  The  bench,  the  bar,  and  the  whole  king 
dom  were  startled  by  the  infamy  ;  and  at  the  next  ses 
sion  of  Parliament  Trial  by  Battle  was  abolished  in 
England.  In  the  debate  on  this  subject,  the  Attorney- 
General  remarked,  in  appropriate  terms,  that,  "  if  the 
appellant  had  persevered  in  the  Trial  by  Battle,  he 
had  no  doubt  the  legislature  would  have  felt  it  their 
imperious  duty  at  once  to  interfere,  and  pass  an  ex  post 
facto  law  to  prevent  so  degrading  a  spectacle  from  taking 
placer1 

These  words  evince  the  disgust  which  Trial  by  Bat 
tle  excites  in  our  day.  Its  folly  and  wickedness  are  con 
spicuous  to  all.  Reverting  to  that  early  period  in  which 
it  prevailed,  our  minds  are  impressed  by  the  general  bar 
barism  ;  we  recoil  with  horror  from  the  awful  subjection 
of  justice  to  brute  force,  —  from  the  impious  profanation 

Donald  Lord  Rea  against  Mr.  David  Ramsay,  7  Cha.  I.,  1631  :  Hargrave's 
State  Trials,  VoL  XI.  pp.  124-131. 

1  Hansard,  Part.  Debates,  XXXIX.   1104.    Blackstone,  Com.,  HI.  887 
Chitty's  note. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  45 

of  God  in  deeming  him  present  at  these  outrages, — 
from  the  moral  degradation  out  of  which  they  sprang, 
and  which  they  perpetuated;  we  enrobe  ourselves  in 
self-complacent  virtue,  and  thank  God  that  we  are  not 
as  these  men,  —  that  ours  is  an  age  of  light,  while  theirs 
was  an  age  of  darkness  ! 

But  remember,  fellow-citizens,  that  this  criminal  and 
impious  custom,  which  all  condemn  in  the  case  of  in 
dividuals,  is  openly  avowed  by  our  own  country,  and 
by  other  countries  of  the  great  Christian  Federation, 
nay,  that  it  is  expressly  established  by  International 
Law,  as  the  proper  mode  of  determining  justice  between 
nations,  —  while  the  feats  of  hardihood  by  which  it  is 
waged,  and  the  triumphs  of  its  fields,  are  exalted  be 
yond  all  other  labors,  whether  of  learning,  industry,  or 
benevolence,  as  the  well-spring  of  Glory.  Alas !  upon 
our  own  heads  be  the  judgment  of  barbarism  which  we 
pronounce  upon  those  that  have  gone  before  !  At  this 
moment,  in  this  period  of  light,  while  to  the  contented 
souls  of  many  the  noonday  sun  of  civilization  seems  to 
be  standing  still  in  the  heavens,  as  upon  Gibeon,  the 
dealings  between  nations  are  still  governed  by  the  odious 
rules  of  brute  violence  which  once  predominated  be 
tween  individuals.  The  Dark  Ages  have  not  passed 
away;  Erebus  and  black  Night,  born  of  Chaos,  still 
brood  over  the  earth ;  nor  can  we  hail  the  clear  day, 
until  the  hearts  of  nations  are  touched,  as  the  hearts  of 
individual  men,. and  all  acknowledge  one  and  tJie  same 
Law  ff  Right. 

What  has  taught  you,  0  man !  thus  to  find  glory  in 
an  act,  performed  by  a  nation,  which  you  condemn  as  a 
crime  or  a  barbarism,  when  committed  by  an  individual  ? 


46  THE  TBUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

In  what  vain  conceit  of  wisdom  and  virtue  do  yon  find 
this  incongruous  morality  ?  Where  is  it  declared  that 
God,  who  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  is  a  respecter  of 
multitudes  ?  Whence  do  you  draw  these  partial  laws 
of  an  impartial  God  ?  Man  is  immortal ;  but  Nations 
are  mortal  Man  has  a  higher  destiny  than  Nations. 
Can  Nations  be  less  amenable  to  the  supreme  moral 
law  ?  Each  individual  is  an  atom  of  the  mass.  Must 
not  the  mass,  in  its  conscience,  be  like  the  individuals  of 
which  it  is  composed  ?  Shall  the  mass,  in  relations  with 
other  masses,  do  what  individuals  in  relations  with  each 
other  may  not  do  ?  As  in  the  physical  creation,  so  in 
the  moral,  there  is  but  one  rule  for  the  individual  and 
the  mass.  It  was  the  lofty  discovery  of  Newton,  that 
the  simple  law  which  determines  the  fall  of  an  ap 
ple  prevails  everywhere  throughout  the  Universe, — 
ruling  each  particle  in  reference  to  every  other  particle, 
large  or  small,  —  reaching  from  earth  to  heaven,  and  con 
trolling  the  infinite  motions  of  the  spheres.  So,  with 
equal  scope,  another  simple  law,  the  Law  of  Right, 
which  binds  the  individual,  binds  also  two  or  three  when 
gathered  together,  —  binds  conventions  and  congreg^- 
tions  of  men,  —  binds  villages,  towns,  and  cities, — 
binds  states,  nations,  and  races,  —  clasps  the  whole  hu 
man  family  in  its  sevenfold  embrace ;  nay,  more,  beyond 

"  the  flaming  bound*  of  plnce  and  time, 
The  living  throne,  the  sapphire  blaze," 

it  binds  the  angels  of  Heaven,  Cherubim,  full  of  knowl 
edge,  Seraphim,  full  of  love ;  above  all,  it  binds,  in  self- 
imposed  bonds,  a  just  and  omnipotent  God.  This  is  the 
law  of  which  the  ancient  poet  sings,  as  Queen  alike  of 
mortal*  and  immortals.  It  is  of  this,  and  not  of  any 
earthly  law,  that  Hooker  speaks  in  that  magnificent  ]><- 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  47 

riod  which  sounds  like  an  anthem :  "  Of  Law  there  can 
be  no  less  acknowledged  than  that  her  seat  is  the  bosom 
of  God,  her  voice  the  harmony  of  the  world :  all  things 
in  heaven  and  earth  do  her  homage,  the  very  least  as 
feeling  her  care,  and  the  greatest  as  not  exempted  from 
her  power :  both  angels  and  men,  and  creatures  of  what 
condition  soever,  though  each  in  different  sort  and  man 
ner,  yet  all  with  uniform  consent,  admiring  her  as  the 
mother  of  their  peace  and  joy."  Often  quoted,  and 
justly  admired,  sometimes  as  the  finest  sentence  of  our 
English  speech,  this  grand  declaration  cannot  be  more 
fitly  invoked  than  to  condemn  the  pretence  of  one 
law  for  the  individual  and  another  for  the  nation. 

Stripped  of  all  delusive  apology,  and  tried  by  that 
comprehensive  law  under  which  nations  are  set  to  the 
bar  like  common  men,  War  falls  from  glory  into  barbar 
ous  guilt,  taking  its  place  among  bloody  transgressions, 
while  its  flaming  honors  are  turned  into  shame.  Pain 
ful  to  existing  prejudice  as  this  may  be,  we  must  learn 
to  abhor  it,  as  we  abhor  similar  transgressions  by  vulgar 
offender.  Every  word  of  reprobation  which  the  enlight 
ened  conscience  now  fastens  upon  the  savage  combatant 
in  Trial  by  Battle,  or  which  it  applies  to  the  unhappy 
being  who  in  murderous  duel  takes  the  life  of  his 
fellow-man,  belongs  also  to  the  nation  that  appeals  to 
War.  Amidst  the  thunders  of  Sinai  God  declared, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  kill "  ;  and  the  voice  of  these  thunders, 
with  this  commandment,  is  prolonged  to  our  own  day  in 
the  echoes  of  Christian  churches.  What  mortal  shall 
restrict  the  application  of  these  words  ?  Who  on  earth 
is  empowered  to  vary  or  abridge  the  commandments  of 
God  ?  Who  shall  presume  to  declare  that  this  injunc 
tion  was  directed,  not  to  nations,  but  to  individuals 


48  T1IE  TRUE  GRANDEUB  OF  NATIONS. 

only,  —  not  to  many,  but  to  one  only,  —  that  one  man 
shall  not  kill,  but  that  many  may,  —  that  one  man  shall 
not  slay  in  Duel,  but  that  a  nation  may  slay  a  multi 
tude  in  the  duel  of  War,  —  that  each  individual  is 
forbidden  to  destroy  the  life  of  a  single  human  being, 
but  that  a  nation  is  not  forbidden  to  cut  off  by  the 
sword  a  whole  people  ?  We  are  struck  with  horror,  and 
our  hair  stands  on  end,  at  the  report  of  a  single  murder ; 
we  think  of  the  soul  hurried  to  final  account;  we  hunt 
the  murderer ;  and  Government  puts  forth  its  energies  to 
secure  his  punishment.  Viewed  in  the  unclouded  light 
of  Truth,  what  is  War  but  organized  murder,  —  murder 
of  malice  aforethought,  —  in  cold  blood,  —  under  sanc 
tions  of  impious  law,  —  through  the  operation  of  an  ex 
tensive  machinery  of  crime,  —  with  innumerable  hands, 
—  at  incalculable  cost  of  money,  —  by  subtle  contriv 
ances  of  cunning  and  skill,  —  or  amidst  the  fiendish 
atrocities  of  the  savage,  brutal  assault  ? 

By  another  commandment,  not  less  solemn,  it  is  de 
clared,  "  Thou  slialt  not  steal " ;  and  then  again  there  is 
another  forbidding  to  covet  what  belongs  to  others : 
but  all  this  is  done  by  War,  which  is  stealing  and  cove- 
tousness  organized  by  International  Law.  The  Scythjan, 
undisturbed  by  the  illusion  of  military  glory,  snatched 
a  phrase  of  justice  from  an  acknowledged  criminal,  when 
he  called  Alexander  "  the  greatest  robber  in  the  world." 
And  the  Roman  satirist,  filled  with  similar  truth,  in 
pungent  words  touched  to  the  quick  that  flagrant,  un 
blushing  injustice  which  dooms  to  condign  punishment 
the  very  guilt  that  in  another  sphere  and  on  a  grander 
scale  is  hailed  with  acclamation  :  — 

"  Die  crucem  sceleris  pretium  tulit,  h!c  diiuletna."  1 
1  Juvenal,  Sut,  XIII.  108.    The  same  judgment  is  pronounced  l>y  1-Vuelon 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  49 

While  condemning  the  ordinary  malefactor,  mankind, 
blind  to  the  real  character  of  War,  may  yet  a  little 
longer  crown  the  giant  actor  with  glory ;  a  generous 
posterity  may  pardon  to  unconscious  barbarism  the 
atrocities  which  have  been  waged;  but  the  custom, 
as  organized  by  existing  law,  cannot  escape  the  un 
erring  judgment  of  reason  and  religion.  The  outrages, 
which,  under  most  solemn  sanctions,  it  permits  and  in 
vokes  for  professed  purposes  of  justice,  cannot  be  au 
thorized  by  any  human  power ;  and  they  must  rise  in 
overwhelming  judgment,  not  only  against  those  who 
wield  the  weapons  of  Battle,  but  more  still  against  all 
who  uphold  its  monstrous  Arbitrament. 

When,  0,  when  shall  the  St.  Louis  of  the  Nations 
arise,  —  Christian  ruler  or  Christian  people,  —  who,  in 
the  Spirit  of  True  Greatness,  shall  proclaim,  that  hence 
forward  forever  the  great  Trial  by  Battle  shall  cease,  — 
that  "  these  battles  "  shall  be  abolished  throughout  the 
Commonwealth  of  Civilization,  —  that  a  spectacle  so  de 
grading  shall  never  be  allowed  again  to  take  place,  — 
and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  nations,  involving  the  high 
est  and  wisest  policy,  to  establish  love  between  each 
other,  and,  in  all  respects,  at  all  times,  with  all  persons, 
whether  their  own  people  or  the  people  of  other  lands, 
to  be  governed  by  the  sacred  Law  of  Right,  as  between 
man  and  man  ? 

IV. 

I  am  now  brought  to  review  the  obstacles  encountered 
by  those  who,  according  to  the  injunction  of  St.  Augus- 

in  his  counsels  to  royalty,  entitled,  Examen  de  Omtcience  svr  Its  Devoirs  de 
la  Royaute. 


50  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF   NATIONS. 

tine,  would  make  war  on  War,  and  slay  it  with  the 
word.  To  some  of  these  obstacles  I  alluded  at  the 
beginning,  especially  the  warlike  literature,  by  which 
the  character  is  formed.  The  world  has  supped  so  full 
with  battles,  that  its  modes  of  thought  and  many  of  its 
rules  of  conduct  are  incarnadined  with  blood,  as  the 
bones  of  swine,  feeding  on  madder,  are  said  to  become 
red.  Not  to  be  tempted  by  this  theme,  I  hasten  on  to 
expose  in  succession  those  various  PREJUDICES  so  pow 
erful  still  in  keeping  alive  the  custom  of  War,  including 
that  greatest  prejudice,  mighty  parent  of  an  infinite 
brood,  at  whose  unreasoning  behest  untold  sums  are 
absorbed  in  Preparations  for  War. 

1.  One  of  the  most  important  is  the  prejudice  from 
belief  in  its  necessity.  When  War  is  called  a  necessity, 
it  is  meant,  of  course,  that  its  object  can  be  attained  in 
no  other  way.  Now  I  think  it  has  already  appeared, 
with  distinctness  approaching  demonstration,  that  the 
professed  object  of  War,  which  is  justice  between  na 
tions,  is  in  no  respect  promoted  by  War,  —  that  force 
is  not  justice,  nor  in  any  way  conducive  to  justice,  — 
that  the  eagles  of  victory  are  the  emblems  of  success 
ful  force  only,  and  not  of  established  right. '  Justice  is 
obtained  solely  by  the  exercise  of  reason  and  judgment ; 
but  these  are  silent  in  the  din  of  arms.  Justice  is  with 
out  passion ;  but  War  lets  loose  all  the  worst  passions, 
while  "  Chance,  high  arbiter,  more  embroils  the  fray." 
The  age  is  gone  when  a  nation  within  the  enchanted 
circle  of  civilization  could  make  war  upon  its  neigh 
bors  for  any  declared  purpose  of  booty  or  vengeance. 
It  does  " nought  in  hate,  but  all  in  honor"  Such  is  the 
present  rule.  Professions  of  tenderness  mingle  with 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS        51 

the  first  mutterings  of  strife.  As  if  conscience-struck 
at  the  criminal  abyss  into  which  they  are  plunging,  each 
of  the  great  litigants  seeks  to  fix  upon  the  other  some 
charge  of  hostile  aggression,  or  to  set  up  the  excuse 
of  defending  some  asserted  right,  some  Texas,  some 
Oregon.  Each,  like  Pontius  Pilate,  vainly  washes  its 
hands  of  innocent  blood,  and  straightway  allows  a 
crime  at  which  the  whole  heavens  are  darkened,  and 
two  kindred  countries  are  severed,  as  the  vail  of  the 
Temple  was  rent  in  twain. 

Proper  modes  for  the  determination  of  international 
disputes  are  Negotiation,  Mediation,  Arbitration,  and  a 
Congress  of  Nations,  —  all  practicable,  and  calculated 
to  secure  peaceful  justice.  Under  existing  Law  of  Na 
tions  these  may  be  employed  at  any  time.  But  the  very 
law  sanctioning  War  may  be  changed,  as  regards  two  or 
more  nations  by  treaty  between  them,  and  as  regards 
the  body  of  nations  by  general  consent.  If  nations 
can  agree  in  solemn  provisions  of  International  Law 
to  establish  "War  as  Arbiter  of  Justice,  they  can  also 
agree  to  abolish  this  arbitrament,  and  to  establish  peace 
ful  substitutes,  —  precisely  as  similar  substitutes  are 
established  by  Municipal  Law  to  determine  contro 
versies  among  individuals.  A  system  of  Arbitration 
may  be  instituted,  or  a  Congress  of  Nations,  charged 
with  the  high  duty  of  organizing  an  Ultimate  Tribunal, 
instead  of  "  these  battles."  To  do  this,  the  will  only  is 
required. 

Let  it  not  be  said,  then,  that  war  is  a  necessity ;  and 
may  our  country  aspire  to  the  glory  of  taking  the  lead 
in  disowning  the  barbarous  system  of  LYNCH  LAW 
among  nations,  while  it  proclaims  peaceful  substitutes  ! 
Such  a  glory,  unlike  the  earthly  fame  of  battle,  will  be 


52  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

immortal  as  the  stars,  dropping  perpetual  light  upon 
the  souls  of  men. 

2.  Another  prejudice  is  founded  on  the  practice  of 
nations,  past  and  present.  There  is  no  crime  or  enor 
mity  in  morals  which  may  not  find  the  support  of  hu 
man  example,  often  on  an  extended  scale.  But  it  will 
not  be  urged  in  our  day  that  we  are  to  look  for  a  stand 
ard  of  duty  in  the  conduct  of  vain,  fallible,  mistaken 
man.  Not  by  any  subtile  alchemy  can  man  transmute 
Wrong  into  Right.  Because  War  is  according  to  the 
practice  of  the  world,  it  does  not  follow  that  it  is  right. 
For  ages  the  world  worshipped  false  gods,  —  not  less 
false  because  all  bowed  before  them.  At  this  moment 
the  prevailing  numbers  of  mankind  are  heathen  ;  but 
heathenism  is  not  therefore  true.  Once  it  was  the 
practice  of  nations  to  slaughter  prisoners  of  war ;  but 
the  Spirit  of  War  recoils  now  from  this  bloody  sacri 
fice.  By  a  perverse  morality  in  Sparta,  theft,  instead 
of  being  a  crime,  was,  like  War,  dignified  into  an  art 
and  accomplishment;  like  War,  it  was  admitted  into 
the  system  of  youthful  education ;  and,  like  War,  it  was 
illustrated  by  an  instance  of  unconquerable  firmness, 
barlmric*  counterfeit  of  virtue.  The  Spartan  youth, 
with  the  stolen  fox  beneath  his  robe  eating  into  his 
bowels,  is  an  example  of  fortitude  not  unlike  that  so 
often  admired  in  the  soldier.  Other  illustrations  crowd 
upon  the  mind ;  but  I  will  not  dwell  upon  them.  We 
turn  with  disgust  from  Spartan  cruelty  and  the  wolves 
of  Taygetus,  —  from  the  awful  cannibalism  of  the 
Feejee  Islands,  —  from  the  profane  rites  of  innumer 
able  savages,  —  from  the  crushing  Juggernaut,  —  from 
the  Hindoo  widow  on  her  funeral  pyre,  —  from  the 


THE   TBUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  53 

Indian  dancing  at  the  stake ;  but  had  not  all  these,  like 
War,  the  sanction  of  established  usage  ? 

Often  is  it  said  that  we  need  not  be  wiser  than  our 
fathers.  Eather  strive  to  excel  our  fathers.  What  in 
them  was  good  imitate ;  but  do  not  bind  ourselves,  as 
in  chains  of  Fate,  by  their  imperfect  example.  In  all 
modesty  be  it  said,  we  have  lived  to  little  purpose,  if  we 
are  not  wiser  than  the  generations  that  have  gone  before. 
It  is  the  exalted  distinction  of  man  that  he  is  progres 
sive, —  that  his  reason  is  not  merely  the  reason  of  a 
single  human  being,  but  that  of  the  whole  human  race, 
in  all  ages  from  which  knowledge  has  descended,  in  all 
lands  from  which  it  has  been  borne  away.  We  are  the 
heirs  to  an  inheritance  grandly  accumulating  from  gen 
eration  to  generation,  with  the  superadded  products  of 
other  lands.  The  child  at  his  mother's  knee  is  now 
taught  the  orbits  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 

"  Where  worlds  on  worlds  compose  one  Universe," 

the  nature  of  this  globe,  the  character  of  the  tribes  by 
which  it  is  covered,  and  the  geography  of  countries,  to 
an  extent  far  beyond  the  ken  of  the  most  learned  in 
other  days.  It  is  true,  therefore,  that  antiquity  is  the 
real  infancy  of  man.  Then  is  he  immature,  ignorant, 
wayward,  selfish,  childish,  finding  his  chief  happiness  in 
lowest  pleasures,  unconscious  of  the  higher.  The  ani 
mal  reigns  supreme,  and  he  seeks  contest,  war,  blood. 
Already  he  has  lived  through  infancy  and  childhood. 
Reason  and  the  kindlier  virtues,  repudiating  and  ab 
horring  force,  now  bear  sway.  The  time  has  come 
for  temperance,  moderation,  peace.  We  are  the  true 
ancients.  The  single  lock  on  the  battered  forehead  of 
old  Time  is  thinner  now  than  when  our  fathers  at- 


54  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

tempted  to  grasp  it;  the  hour-glass  has  been  turned 
often  since  ;  the  scythe  is  heavier  laden  with  the  work 
of  death. 

Let  us  not,  then,  take  for  a  lamp  to  our  feet  the 
feeble  taper  that  glimmers  from  the  sepulchre  of  the 
Past  Rather  hail  that  ever-burning  light  above,  in 
whose  beams  is  the  brightness  of  noonday. 

3.  There  is  a  topic  which  I  approach  with  diffidence, 
but  in  the  spirit  of  frankness.  It  is  the  influence  which 
War,  though  condemned  by  Christ,  has  derived  from 
the  Christian  Church.  When  Constantino,  on  one  of 
his  marches,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  beheld  the  lumi 
nous  trophy  of  the  cross  in  the  sky,  right  above  the 
meridian  sun,  inscribed  with  the  words,  By  this  conquer, 
had  his  soul  been  penetrated  by  the  true  spirit  of  Him 
whose  precious  symbol  it  was,  he  would  have  found  no 
inspiration  to  the  spear  and  the  sword.  He  would  have 
received  the  lesson  of  self-sacrifice  as  from  the  lips  of 
the  Saviour,  and  learned  that  by  no  earthly  weapon  of 
battle  can  true  victory  be  won.  The  pride  of  conquest 
would  have  been  rebuked,  and  the  bawble  sceptre  have 
fallen  from  his  hands.  By  this  conquer :  by  patience, 
suffering,  forgiveness  of  evil,  by  all  those  virtues  of 
which  the  cross  is  the  affecting  token,  conquer,  and  the 
victory  shall  be  greater  than  any  in  the  annals  of  Ro 
man  conquest;  it  may  not  yet  find  a  place  in  the 
records  of  man,  but  it  will  appear  in  the  register  of 
everlasting  life. 

The  Christian  Church,  after  the  early  centuries,  failed 
to  discern  the  peculiar  spiritual  beauty  of  the  faith  it 
professed.  Like  Constantino,  it  found  new  incentive  to 
War  in  the  religion  of  Peace ;  and  such  is  its  character, 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  55 

even  in  our  own  day.  The  Pope  of  Eome,  the  asserted 
head  of  the  Church,  Vicegerent  of  Christ  upon  earth, 
whose  seal  is  a  fisherman,  on  whose  banner  is  a  Lamb 
before  the  Holy  Cross,  assumed  the  command  of  armies, 
mingling  the  thunders  of  Battle  with  the  thunders  of 
the  Vatican.  The  dagger  projecting  from  the  sacred 
vestments  of  De  Retz,  while  still  an  archbishop,  was 
justly  derided  by  the  Parisian  crowd  as  "the  Arch 
bishop's  breviary."  We  read  of  mitred  prelates  in 
armor  of  proof,  and  seem  still  to  catch  the  clink  of 
the  golden  spurs  of  bishops  in  the  streets  of  Co 
logne.  The  sword  of  knighthood  was  consecrated  by 
the  Church,  and  priests  were  expert  masters  in  mili 
tary  exercises.  I  have  seen  at  the  gates  of  the  Papal 
Palace  in  Rome  a  constant  guard  of  Swiss  soldiers ;  I 
have  seen,  too,  in  our  own  streets,  a  show  as  incongru 
ous  and  inconsistent,  —  the  pastor  of  a  Christian  church 
swelling  the  pomp  of  a  military  parade.  And  some 
have  heard,  within  a  few  short  weeks,  in  a  Christian 
pulpit,  from  the  lips  of  an  eminent  Christian  divine,  a 
sermon,  where  we  are  encouraged  to  serve  the  God  of 
Battles,  and,  as  citizen  soldiers,  fight  for  Peace  : 1  a  senti 
ment  in  unhappy  harmony  with  the  profane  language 
of  the  British  peer,  who,  in  addressing  the  House  of 
Lords,  said,  "  The  best  road  to  Peace,  my  Lords,  is  War, 
and  that  in  the  manner  we  are  taught  to  worship  our 
Creator,  namely,  by  carrying  it  on  with  all  our  souls, 
with  all  our  minds,  with  all  our  hearts,  and  with  all 
our  strength,"  2  —  but  finding  small  support  in  a  religion 
that  expressly  enjoins,  when  one  cheek  is  smitten,  to 

1  Discourse  before  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery  Company,  by 
A.  H.  Vinton. 

2  Earl  of  Abingdon,  May  30, 1794:  Hansard,  Parl.  Hist.,  XXXI.  680. 


56  THE  TBUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

turn  the  other,  and  which  we  hear  with  pain  from 
a  minister  of  Christian  truth,  —  alas !  thus  made  infe 
rior  to  that  of  the  heathen  who  preferred  the  unjustest 
peace  to  the  justed  war.1 

Well  may  we  marvel  that  now,  in  an  age  of  civiliza 
tion,  the  God  of  Battles  should  be  invoked.  "  Deo  im- 
perante,  QUEM  ADESSE  BELLANTIBUS  CREDUNT,"  are  the 
appropriate  words  of  surprise  in  which  Tacitus  de 
scribes  a  similar  delusion  of  the  ancient  Germans.2 
The  polite  lioman  did  not  think  God  present  with 
fighting  men.  This  ancient  superstition  must  have  lost 
something  of  its  hold  even  in  Germany ;  for,  at  a 
recent  period,  her  most  renowned  captain,  —  whose  false 
glory  procured  for  him  the  title  of  Great,  —  Frederick 
of  Prussia,  declared,  with  commendable  frankness,  that 
he  always  found  the  God  of  Battles  on  the  side  of  the 
strongest  regiments ;  and  when  it  was  proposed  to 
place  on  his  banner,  soon  to  flout  the  sky  of  Silesia, 
the  inscription,  For  GOD  and  Country,  he  rejected  the 
first  word,  declaring  it  not  proper  to  introduce  the  name 
of  the  Deity  in  the  quarrels  of  men.  By  this  ele 
vated  sentiment  the  warrior  monarch  may  be  remem 
bered,  when  his  fame  of  battle  has  passed  away. 

The  French   priest  of  Mars,  who   proclaimed  the 

l  "  reluuqwmmnm pacem  juttitrimo  bello  anteferrem,"  are  the  words  of 
Cicero.  (Epist.  A.  Caecitue:  Bpp.  ad  Diverse*,  VI.  6.)  Only  eight  days  after 
Franklin  had  placed  hit  name  to  the  treaty  of  peace  which  acknowledged 
the  independence  of  his  country,  he  wrote  to  a  friend, "  May  we  never  see 
another  war !  for,  in  my  opinion,  there  never  was  a  good  war  or  a  bad  peace." 
(Letter  to  Joniah  Quincy :  Works,  ed.  Sparks,  Vol.  X.  p.  11.)  It  is  with  sin 
cere  regret  that  I  Mem,  by  a  particular  allusion,  to  depart  for  a  moment 
from  to  great  a  theme;  bat  the  person  and  the  theme  here  become  united. 
I  cannot  refrain  from  the  effort  to  tear  this  iron  branch  of  War  from  the 
golden  tree  of  Christian  Truth,  even  though  a  voice  come  forth  from  the 
breaking  bough. 

*  De  Moribus  German.,  Cap.  7. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  57 

"  divinity  "  of  War,  rivals  the  ancient  Germans  in  faith 
that  God  is  the  tutelary  guardian  of  battle,  and  he  finds 
a  new  title,  which  he  says  "  shines "  on  all  the  pages 
of  Scripture,  being  none  other  than  God  of  Armies* 
Never  was  greater  mistake.  No  theology,  no  theodicy, 
has  ever  attributed  to  God  this  title.  God  is  God  of 
Heaven,  God  of  Hosts,  the  Living  God,  and  he  is  God 
of  Peace, — so  called  by  St.  Paul,  saying,  "  Now  the  God 
of  Peace  be  with  you  all,"  2  and  again, "  The  God  of  Peace 
shall  bruise  Satan  shortly,"  3  —  but  God  of  Armies  he  is 
not,  as  he  is  not  God  of  Battles.4  The  title,  whether  of 
Armies  or  of  Hosts,  thus  invoked  for  War,  has  an  oppo 
site  import,  even  angelic,  —  the  armies  named  being  sim 
ply,  according  to  authorities  Ecclesiastical  and  Kabbinical, 
the  hosts  of  angels  standing  about  the  throne.  Who, 
then,  is  God  of  Battles  ?  It  is  Mars,  —  man-slaying, 
blood-polluted,  city-smiting  Mars  ! 6  It  is  not  He  who 
binds  the  sweet  influences  of  the  Pleiades  and  looses  the 
bands  of  Orion,  who  causes  the  sun  to  shine  on  the  evil 
and  the  good,  who  distils  the  oil  of  gladness  upon  every 
upright  heart,  who  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn 
lamb,  —  the  Fountain  of  Mercy  and  Goodness,  the  God 
of  Justice  and  Love.  Mars  is  not  the  God  of  Chris 
tians  ;  he  is  not  Our  Father  in  Heaven ;  to  him  can 
ascend  no  prayers  of  Christian  thanksgiving,  no  words 
of  Christian  worship,  no  pealing  anthem  to  swell  the 
note  of  praise. 
And  yet  Christ  and  Mars  are  still  brought  into  fel- 

1  Joseph  de  Maistre,  Soirees  de  Saint-P^tersbourg,  Tom.  II.  p.  27. 

2  Romans,  xv.  88. 
»  Ibid.,  xvi.  20. 

4  A  volume  BO  common  as  Cruden's  Concordance  shows  the  audacity  of 
the  martial  claim. 
6  Iliad,  V.  31. 

3* 


58  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

lowship,  even  interchanging  pulpits.  What  a  picture 
of  contrasts!  A  national  ship  of  the  line  now  floats 
in  this  harbor.  Many  of  you  have  pressed  its  deck, 
and  observed  with  admiration  the  completeness  which 
prevails  in  all  its  parts,  —  its  lithe  masts  and  complex 
network  of  ropes,  —  its  thick  wooden  walls,  within 
which  are  more  than  the  soldiers  of  Ulysses,  —  its 
strong  defences,  and  its  numerous  dread  and  rude- 
throated  engines  of  War.  There,  each  Sabbath,  amidst 
this  armament  of  blood,  while  the  wave  comes  gently 
plashing  against  the  frowning  sides,  from  a  pulpit  sup 
ported  by  a  cannon,  in  repose  now,  but  ready  to  awake 
its  dormant  thunder  charged  with  death,  a  Christian 
preacher  addresses  officers  and  crew.  May  his  in 
structions  carry  strength  and  succor  to  their  souls ! 
But,  in  such  a  place,  those  highest  words  of  the  Mai 
ter  he  professes,  "  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,"  "  Love 
your  enemies,"  "  Resist  not  evil,"  must,  like  Macbeth's 
"  Amen,"  stick  'in  the  throat. 

It  will  not  be  doubted  that  this  strange  and  unblessed 
conjunction  of  the  Church  with  War  has  no  little  in 
fluence  in  blinding  the  world  to  the  truth,  too  slowly 
recognized,  that  the  whole  custom  of  war  is  contrary  to 
Christianity. 

Individual  interests  mingle  with  prevailing  errors, 
and  are  so  far  concerned  in  maintaining  them  that 
military  men  yield  reluctantly  to  this  truth.  Like  law 
yers,  as  described  by  Voltaire,  they  are  "  conservators  of 
ancient  barbarous  usages."  But  that  these  usages  should 
obtain  countenance  in  the  Church  is  one  of  those  anom 
alies  which  make  us  feel  the  weakness  of  our  nature, 
if  not  the  elevation  of  Christian  truth.  To  uphold  the 
Arbitrament  of  War  requires  no  more  than  to  uphold 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  59 

the  Trial  by  Battle ;  for  the  two  are  identical,  except  in 
proportion.  One  is  a  giant,  the  other  a  pygmy.  Long 
ago  the  Church  condemned  the  pygmy,  and  this  Chris 
tian  judgment  now  awaits  extension  to  the  giant. 
Meanwhile  it  is  perpetual  testimony;  nor  should  it 
be  forgotten,  that,  for  some  time  after  the  Apostles, 
when  the  message  of  peace  and  good- will  was  first  re 
ceived,  many  yielded  to  it  so  completely  as  to  reject 
arms  of  all  kinds.  Such  was  the  voice  of  Justin  Mar 
tyr,  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  and  Origen,  while  Augustine 
pleads  always  for  Peace.  Gibbon  coldly  recounts,  how 
Maximilian,  a  youthful  recruit  from  Africa,  refused  to 
serve,  insisting  that  his  conscience  would  not  permit 
him  to  embrace  the  profession  of  soldier,  and  then 
how  Marcellus  the  Centurion,  on  the  day  of  a  public 
festival,  threw  away  his  belt,  his  arms,  and  the  ensigns 
of  command,  exclaiming  with  a  loud  voice,  that  he 
would  obey  none  but  Jesus  Christ,  the  Eternal  King.1 
Martyrdom  ensued,  and  the  Church  has  inscribed  their 
names  on  its  everlasting  rolls,  thus  forever  commemo 
rating  their  testimony.  These  are  early  examples,  not 
without  successors.  But  Mars,  so  potent,  especially  in 
Rome,  was  not  easily  dislodged,  and  down  to  this  day 
holds  his  place  at  Christian  altars. 

"  Thee  to  defend  the  Moloch  priest  prefers 
The  prayer  of  hate,  and  bellows  to  the  herd, 
That  Deity,  accomplice  Deity, 
In  the  fierce  jealousy  of  wakened  wroth, 
Will  go  forth  with  our  armies  and  our  fleets 
To  scatter  the  red  ruin  on  their  foes ! 
0,  blasphemy!  to  mingle  fiendish  deeds 
With  blessedness!" « 

1  Gibbon,  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Chap.  XVL  Vol.  L  p. 
680. 

2  Coleridge,  Religious  Musings,  written  Christinas  Eve,  1794. 


60  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

One  of  the  beautiful  pictures  adorning  the  dome  of  a 
church  in  Rome,  by  that  master  of  Art,  whose  immortal 
colors  speak  as  with  the  voice  of  a  poet,  the  Divine 
Raphael,  represents  Mars  in  the  attitude  of  War,  with 
a  drawn  sword  uplifted  and  ready  to  strike,  while  an 
unarmed  angel  from  behind,  with  gentle,  but  irresist 
ible  force,  arrests  and  holds  the  descending  hand.  Such 
is  the  true  image  of  Christian  duty ;  nor  can  I  readily 
perceive  any  difference  in  principle  between  those  min 
isters  of  the  Gospel  who  themselves  gird  on  the  sword, 
as  in  the  olden  time,  and  those  others,  unarmed,  and  in 
customary  suit  of  solemn  black,  who  lend  the  sanction 
of  their  presence  to  the  martial  array,  of  to  any  form  of 
preparation  for  War.  The  drummer,  who  pleaded  that 
he  did  not  fight,  was  held  more  responsible  for  the  bat 
tle  than  the  soldier,  —  as  it  was  the  sound  of  his  drum 
that  inflamed  the  flagging  courage  of  the  troops. 

4.  From  prejudices  engendered  by  the  Church  I  pass 
to  prejudices  engendered  by  the  army  itself,  having  their 
immediate  origin  in  military  life,  but  unfortunately  dif 
fusing  themselves  throughout  the  community,  in  widen 
ing,  though  less  apparent  circles.  I  allude  directly  to 
what  is  called  the  Point  of  Honor,  early  child  of  Chivalry, 
living  representative  of  its  barbarism.1  It  is  difficult  to 
define  what  is  so  evanescent,  so  impalpable,  so  chimeri 
cal,  so  unreal,  and  yet  which  exercises  such  fiendish 

*  The  Point  of  Honor  has  a  literature  of  its  own,  illustrated  by  many  vol 
umes,  some  idea  of  which  may  be  obtained  in  Brunet,  "  Manuel  du  Libraire," 
Tom.  VI.  col.  1686-  1688,  under  the  head  of  CkecaUne  an  Moyen  Age,  com- 
prennnt  lei  Totirnou,  let  Combati  Singulien,  etc.  One  of  these  has  a  title 
much  in  advance  of  the  age  in  which  it  appeared :  "  Chrestienne  Confutation 
da  Point  d'Honneur  snr  lequel  la  Noblesse  fonde  aujourd'hui  ses  Quenelles 
et  Monomachies,"  par  Christ  de  Chiffontaiue,  Paris,  1679. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUE  OF  NATIONS.  61 

power  over  many  men,  and  controls  the  intercourse  of  na 
tions.  As  a  little  water,  fallen  into  the  crevice  of  a  rock, 
under  the  congelation  of  winter,  swells  till  it  bursts  the 
thick  and  stony  fibres,  so  a  word  or  slender  act,  drop 
ping  into  the  jieart  of  man,  under  the  hardening  in 
fluence  of  this  pernicious  sentiment,  dilates  till  it  rends 
in  pieces  the  sacred  depository  of  human  affection,  and 
the  demons  Hate  and  Strife  are  left  to  rage.  The  mus 
ing  Hamlet  saw  this  sentiment  in  its  strange  and  unnat 
ural  potency,  when  his  soul  pictured  to  his  contempla 
tions  an 

"  army  of  such  mass  and  charge, 
Led  by  a  delicate  and  tender  prince,  .... 
Exposing  what  is  mortal  and  unsure 
To  all  that  fortune,  death,  and  danger  dare, 
Even  for  an  egg-thell"; 

and  when,  again,  giving  to  the  sentiment  its  strongest 
and  most  popular  expression,  he  exclaims,  — 

"  Rightly  to  be  great 
Is  not  to  stir  without  great  argument, 
But  greatly  tojind  quarrel  in  a  ttraw, 
When  honor '«  at  the  stake" 

And  when  is  honor  at  stake  ?  This  inquiry  opens 
again  the  argument  with  which  I  commenced,  and  with 
which  I  hope  to  close.  Honor  can  be  at  stake  only 
where  justice  and  beneficence  are  at  stake ;  it  can  never 
depend  on  egg-shell  or  straw ;  it  can  never  depend  on 
any  hasty  word  of  anger  or  folly,  not  even  if  fol 
lowed  by  vulgar  violence.  True  honor  appears  in  the 
dignity  of  the  human  soul,  in  that  highest  moral  and 
intellectual  excellence  which  is  the  nearest  approach  to 
qualities  we  reverence  as  attributes  of  God.  Our  com 
munity  frowns  with  indignation  upon  the  profanenesa 
of  the  duel,  having  its  rise  in  this  irrational  paint  of 


62  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

honor.  Are  you  aware  that  you  indulge  the  same  senti 
ment  on  a  gigantic  scale,  when  you  recognize  this  very 
point  of  honor  as  a  proper  apology  for  War  ?  We  have 
already  seen  that  justice  is  in  no  respect  promoted  by 
War.  Is  True  Honor  promoted  where  justice  is  not  ? 
The  very  word  Honor,  as  used  by  the  world,  fails  to 
express  any  elevated  sentiment.  How  immeasurably 
below  the  sentiment  of  Duty !  It  is  a  word  of  easy 
virtue,  that  has  been  prostituted  to  the  most  opposite 
characters  and  transactions.  From  the  field  of  Pavia, 
where  France  suffered  one  of  the  worst  reverses  in  her 
annals,  the  defeated  king  writes  to  his  mother,  "All 
is  lost,  except  honor."  At  a  later  day,  the  renowned 
French  cook,  Vatel,  in  a  paroxysm  of  grief  and  mortifi 
cation  at  the  failure  of  two  dishes  for  the  table,  exclaims, 
"  I  have  lost  my  honor  !  "  and  stabs  himself  to  the  heart.1 
Montesquieu,  whose  writings  are  constellations  of  epi 
grams,  calls  honor  a  prejudice  only,  which  he  places  in 
direct  contrast  with  virtue,  —  the  former  being  the  ani 
mating  principle  of  monarchy,  and  the  latter  the  ani 
mating  principle  of  a  republic ;  but  he  reveals  the  inferi 
ority  of  honor,  as  a  principle,  when  he  adds,  that,  in  a 
well-governed  monarchy,  almost  everybody  is  a  good 

1  The  death  of  the  culinary  martyr  is  described  by  Madame  de  Slvignl 
with  the  accustomed  coldness  and  brilliancy  of  her  fashionable  pen  (Lettres 
L.  and  LI.,  Tom.  I.  pp.  164,  165).  It  was  attributed,  she  says,  to  the  high 
tense  of  honor  he  had  after  hit  OKU  vay.  Tributes  multiply.  A  French 
vau.leville  associates  his  name  with  that  of  this  brilliant  writer,  saying, 
:  ime  de  Se"vigne"  and  Vatel  are  the  people  who  honored  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV."  The  Atmanich  det  Gomrmandt,  in  the  Epistle  Dedicatory  of  its  con 
cluding  volume,  addresses  the  venerable  shade  of  the  heroic  cook :  "  Yon 
have  proved  that  thefanalicim  of  honor  can  exist  in  the  kitchen  as  well  as 
the  camp."  Berchouz  commemorates  the  dying  exclamation  in  La  Gatiro- 
Chant  III.:  — 

"  Je  nu  perdu  dkonnevr,  deux  rdtis  ont  manque"." 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  63 

citizen,  while  it  is  rare  to  meet  a  really  good  man.1  The 
man  of  honor  is  not  the  man  of  virtue.  By  an  instinct 
pointing  to  the  truth,  we  do  not  apply  this  term  to  the 
high  columnar  qualities  which  sustain  and  decorate  life, 
—  parental  affection,  justice,  benevolence,  the  attributes 
of  God.  He  would  seem  to  borrow  a  feebler  phrase, 
showing  a  slight  appreciation  of  the  distinctive  character 
to  whom  reverence  is  accorded,  who  should  speak  of 
father,  mother,  judge,  angel,  or  finally  of  God,  as  persons 
of  honor.  In  such  sacred  connections,  we  feel,  beyond 
the  force  of  any  argument,  the  mundane  character  of 
the  sentiment  which  plays  such  a  part  in  history  and 
even  in  common  life. 

The  rule  of  honor  is  founded  in  the  imagined  neces 
sity  of  resenting  by  force  a  supposed  injury,  whether  of 
word  or  act.2  Admit  the  injury  received,  seeming  to 
sully  the  character ;  is  it  wiped  away  by  any  force,  and 
descent  to  the  brutal  level  of  its  author?  "Could  I 
wipe  your  blood  from  my  conscience  as  easily  as  this 
insult  from  my  face,"  said  a  Marshal  of  France,  greater 
on  this  occasion  than  on  any  field  of  fame,  "  I  would 
lay  you  dead  at  my  feet."  Plato,  reporting  the  angelic 
wisdom  of  Socrates,  declares,  in  one  of  those  beautiful 
dialogues  shining  with  stellar  light  across  the  ages, 

1  Esprit  des  Lois,  Liv.  III.  ch.  3-7. 

2  This  is  well  exposed  in  a  comedy  of  Moliere. 

"  Don  Pedre.    Souhaitez-vous  quelque  chose  de  moJ  ? 

"  Bali.  Oui,  un  conseil  sur  unfait  cfhonnevr.  Je  sais  qu'en  ces  matlerw 
il  est  mal-aise"  de  trouver  un  cavalier  plus  consomme1  que  vous 

"  Seigneu^/ai  regu  un  toufflet.  Vous  savez  ce  qu'est  un  soufflet,  lorsqu'H 
se  donne  a  main  ouverte  sur  le  beau  milieu  de  la  joue.  J"m  e«  vmffletfor\ 
sur  le  ccfur  ;  elje  tuis  dant  f  incertitude,  «',  pour  me  venger  de  tafn*t,je  doit 
me  battre  avec  man  homme,  ou  Men  lefaire  (utattiner. 

"  Don  Pedre.    Assassiner,  c'est  le  plus  sur  et  le  plus  court  chemln." 


64  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

that  to  do  a  wrong  is  more  shameful  than  to  receive  a 
wrong.1  And  this  benign  sentiment  commends  itself 
alike  to  the  Christian,  who  is  bid  to  render  good  for 
evil,  and  to  the  enlightened  soul  of  man.  But  who  con 
fessing  its  truth  will  resort  to  force  on  any  point  of 
honor? 

In  ancient  Athens,  as  in  unchristianized  Christian 
lands,  there  were  sophists  who  urged  that  to  suffer 
was  unbecoming  a  man,  and  would  draw  down  incalcu 
lable  evil  The  following  passage,  which  I  translate 
with  scrupulous  literalness,  will  show  the  manner  in 
which  the  moral  cowardice  of  these  persons  of  little 
faith  was  rebuked  by  him  whom  the  gods  of  Greece 
pronounced  Wisest  of  Men. 

"  These  things  being  so,  let  us  inquire  what  it  is  you 
reproach  me  with :  whether  it  is  well  said,  or  not,  that 
I,  forsooth,  am  not  able  to  assist  either  myself  or  any  of 
my  friends  or  my  relations,  or  to  save  myself  from  the 
greatest  dangers,  but  that,  like  the  infamous,  I  am  at  the 
mercy  of  any  one  who  may  choose  to  smite  me  on  the 
face  (for  this  was  your  juvenile  expression),  or  take 
away  my  property,  or  drive  me  out  of  the  city,  or  (the 
extreme  case)  kill  me,  and  that  to  be  so  situated  is,  as 
you  say,  the  most  shameful  of  all  things.  But  my  view 
is,  —  a  view  many  times  expressed  already,  but  there 
is  no  objection  to  its  being  stated  again,  —  my  view,  I 
*&y>  M,  0  Collides,  that  to  be  struck  on  the  face  unjustly 
is  not  most  shameful,  nor  to  have  my  body  mutilated,  nor 
my  purse  cut ;  but  that  to  strike  and  cut  me  and  mine 
unjustly  is  more  shameful  and  worse  —  and  stealing,  too, 

*  Thl*  proposition  is  enforced  by  Socrates,  with  unanswerable  reasoning 
and  illustration,  throughout  the  Gorgiai,  which  Cicero  read  diligently  while 
studying  at  Athens  (De  Oratore,  1. 11). 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  65 

and  enslaving,  and  housebreaking,  and,  in  general,  doing 
any  wrong  whatever  to  me  and  mine,  is  more  shameful  and 
worse  — for  him  who  does  the  wrong  than  for  me  who  suffer 
it.  These  things,  which  thus  appeared  to  us  in  the  for 
mer  part  of  this  discussion,  are  secured  and  bound 
(even  if  the  expression  be  somewhat  rustical)  with  iron 
and  adamantine  arguments,  as  indeed  they  would  seem  to 
be ;  and  unless  you,  or  some  one  stronger  than  you,  can 
break  them,  it  is  impossible  for  any  one,  saying  other 
wise  than  as  I  now  say,  to  speak  correctly :  since,  for 
my  part,  /  always  have  the  same  thing  to  say,  —  that  I 
know  not  how  these  things  are,  but  that,  of  all  whom  I 
have  ever  discoursed  with  as  now,  no  one  is  able  to  say 
otherwise  without  being  ridiculous." l 

Such  is  the  wisdom  of  Socrates,  as  reported  by  Plato ; 
and  it  has  found  beautiful  expression  in  the  verse  of  an 
English  poet,  who  says,  — 

"  Dear  as  freedom  is,  and  in  my  heart's 
Just  estimation  prized  above  all  price, 
/  had  much  rather  be  myself  the  slave 
And  wear  the  bonds  than  fasten  them  on  him."  2 

The  modern  point  of  honor  did  not  obtain  a  place 
in  warlike  antiquity.  Themistocles  at  Salamis,  when 
threatened  with  a  blow,  did  not  send  a  cartel  to  the 
Spartan  commander.  "Strike,  but  hear,"  was  the  re 
sponse  of  that  firm  nature,  which  felt  that  true  honor  is 
gained  only  in  the  performance  of  duty.  It  was  in 
the  depths  of  modern  barbarism,  in  the  age  of  chivalry, 
that  this  sentiment  shot  up  into  wildest  and  rank 
est  fancies.  Not  a  step  was  taken  without  it.  No 
act  without  reference  to  the  "bewitching  duel."  And 
every  stage  in  the  combat,  from  the  ceremonial  at  its 

1  Gorgias,  Cap.  LXIV. 

*  Cowper,  The  Task,  Book  II.  rv.  33-86. 


66  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

beginning  to  its  deadly  close,  was  measured  by  this  fan 
tastic  law.  Nobody  forgets  As  You  Like  It,  with  its 
humorous  picture  of  a  quarrel  in  progress  to  a  duel, 
through  the  seven  degrees  of  Touchstone.  Nothing 
more  ridiculous,  as  nothing  can  be  more  disgusting,  than 
the  degradation  in  which  this  whole  fantasy  of  honor 
had  its  origin,  as  fully  appears  from  an  authentic  inci 
dent  in  the  life  of  its  most  brilliant  representative.  The 
Chevalier  Bayard,  cynosure  of  chivalry,  the  good  knight 
without  fear  and  without  reproach,  battling  with  the 
Spaniard  Senor  Don  Alonso  de  Soto  Mayor,  succeeded 
by  a  feint  in  striking  him  such  a  blow,  that  the  weapon, 
despite  the  gorget,  penetrated  the  throat  four  fingers 
deep.  The  wounded  Spaniard  grappled  with  his  antago 
nist  until  they  both  rolled  on  the  ground,  when  Bayard, 
drawing  his  dagger,  and  thrusting  the  point  directly  into 
the  nostrils  of  his  foe,  exclaimed,  "  Senor  Don  Alonso, 
surrender,  or  you  are  a  dead  man  ! "  —  a  speech  which  ap 
peared  superfluous,  as  the  second  of  the  Spaniard  cried 
out,  "  Senor  Bayard,  he  is  dead  already ;  you  have  con 
quered."  The  French  knight  "  would  gladly  have  given 
a  hundred  thousand  crowns,  if  he  had  had  them,  to  have 
vanquished  him  alive,"  says  the  Chronicle;  but  now 
falling  upon  his  knees,  he  kissed  the  earth  three  times, 
then  rose  and  drew  his  dead  enemy  from  the  field, 
saying  to  the  second,  "  Senor  Don  Diego,  have  I  done 
enou.  To  which  the  other  piteously  replied,  "Too 

much,  Senor  Bayard,  for  the  honor  of  Spain  ! "  when  the 
latter  very  generously  presented  him  with  the  corpse, 
it  IMMII-J  his  right,  by  the  Law  of  Honor,  to  dispose  of  it 
as  he  thought  proper:  an  act  highly  commended  by 
the  chivalrous  Brantome,  who  thinks  it  difficult  to  say 
which  did  most  honor  to  the  faultless  knight, — not 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  67 

dragging  the  dead  body  by  a  leg  ignominiously  from 
the  field,  like  the  carcass  of  a  dog,  or  condescending  to 
fight  while  suffering  under  an  ague  ! J 

In  such  a  transaction,  conferring  honor  upon  the 
brightest  son  of  chivalry,  we  learn  the  real  character  of 
an  age  whose  departure  has  been  lamented  with  such 
touching,  but  inappropriate  eloquence.  Thank  God  ! 
the  age  of  chivalry  is  gone  ;  but  it  cannot  be  allowed 
to  prolong  its  fanaticism  of  honor  into  our  day.  This 
must  remain  with  the  lances,  swords,  and  daggers  by 
which  it  was  guarded,  or  appear,  if  it  insists,  only  with 
its  inseparable  American  companions,  bowie-knife,  pis 
tol,  and  rifle. 

A  true  standard  of  conduct  is  found  only  in  the 
highest  civilization,  with  those  two  inspirations,  justice 
and  benevolence,  —  never  in  any  barbarism,  though  af 
fecting  the  semblance  of  sensibility  and  refinement. 
But  this  standard,  while  governing  the  relations  of  the 
individual,  must  be  recognized  by  nations  also.  Alas  ! 
alas !  how  long  ?  We  still  wait  that  happy  day,  now 
beginning  to  dawn,  harbinger  of  infinite  happiness  be 
yond,  when  nations,  like  men,  shall  confess  that  it  is 
better  to  receive  a  wrong  than  do  a  wrong. 

5.  There  is  still  another  influence  stimulating  War, 
and  interfering  with  the  natural  attractions  of  Peace :  I 
refer  to  a  selfish  and  exaggerated  prejudice  of  country, 
leading  to  physical  aggrandizement  and  political  exal 
tation  at  the  expense  of  other  countries,  and  in  disre- 

1  La  Tresjoyeuse,  Plaisante  et  Recreative  Hystoire,  compose'e  par  le  Loyal 
Serviteur,  des  Faiz,  Gestes,  Triumphes  et  Prouesses  du  Bon  Chevalier  sans 
Pnour  et  sans  Reprouche,  le  Gentil  Seigneur  de  Bayart,  Chap.  XXII.: 
Petitot,  Collection  Complete  des  Me"moires  relatifs  a  1'Histoire  de  France, 
Tom.  XV.  pp.  238  -  244.  Brantome,  Discours  sur  les  Duels :  (Euvres,  Tom. 
VlH.  pp.  34,  85. 


68  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

gard  of  justice.  Nursed  by  the  literature  of  antiquity, 
we  imbibe  the  sentiment  of  heathen  patriotism.  Ex 
clusive  love  for  the  land  of  birth  belonged  to  the  re 
ligion  of  Greece  and  Rome.  This  sentiment  was  ma 
terial  as  well  as  exclusive.  The  Oracle  directed  the 
returning  Roman  to  kiss  his  mother,  and  he  kissed 
Mother  Earth.  Agamemnon,  according  to  ^Eschylus, 
on  regaining  his  home,  after  perilous  separation  for 
more  than  ten  years  at  the  siege  of  Troy,  before  ad 
dressing  family,  friend,  or  countryman,  salutes  Argos  :  — 

"  By  your  leave,  lords,  first  Argos  I  salute." 

The  schoolboy  does  not  forget  the  victim  of  Verres,  with 
the  memorable  cry  which  was  to  stay  the  descending 
fasces  of  the  lictor,  "  I  am  a  Roman  citizen," — nor  those 
other  words  echoing  through  the  dark  Past,  "  How  sweet 
and  becoming  to  die  for  country ! "  Of  little  avail  the 
nobler  cry,  "  I  am  a  man,"  or  the  Christian  ejaculation, 
swelling  the  soul,  "How  sweet  and  becoming  to  die 
for  duty ! "  The  beautiful  genius  of  Cicero,  instinct  at 
times  with  truth  almost  divine,  did  not  ascend  to  that 
heaven  where  it  is  taught  that  all  mankind  are  neighbors 
and  kindred.  To  the  love  of  universal  man  may  be  ap 
plied  those  words  by  which  the  great  Roman  elevated 
his  selfish  patriotism  to  virtue,  when  he  said  that  country 
alone  embraced  all  the  charities  of  all.1  Attach  this  ad 
mired  phrase  to  the  single  idea  of  country,  and  you  see 
how  contracted  are  its  charities,  compared  with  that 
world-wide  circle  where  our  neighbor  is  the  suffering 

4  Carl  aunt  parentes,  cari  liberi,  propinqni,  fnmiliares  ;  sed  om.net  omni- 

•jMPfato  patria  wra  compiexa  «t"    (De  Offic.,  Lib.  I.  cap.  17.)    It  is 

•ions  to  observe  how  Cicero  puts  aside  that  expression  of  true  humanity 

I  from  Terence,  "  Humani  nihtl  a  me  alienum  p*to."    He  says,  "  £tt 

tmm  &ffirilit  euro  renun  afienantm."    Ibid.,  Lib.  I.  cap.  9. 


THE  TKUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  69 

man,  though  at  the  farthest  pole.  Such  a  sentiment 
would  dry  up  those  precious  fountains  now  diffusing 
themselves  in  distant  unenlightened  lands,  from  the  icy 
mountains  of  Greenland  to  the  coral  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Sea. 

It  is  the  policy  of  rulers  to  encourage  this  exclusive 
patriotism,  and  here  they  are  aided  by  the  examples 
of  antiquity.  I  do  not  know  that  any  one  nation  is 
permitted  to  reproach  another  with  this  selfishness. 
All  are  selfish.  Men  are  taught  to  live,  not  for  man 
kind,  but  only  for  a  small  portion  of  mankind.  The 
pride,  vanity,  ambition,  brutality  even,  which  all  rebuke 
in  the  individual,  are  accounted  virtues,  if  displayed  in 
the  name  of  country.  Among  us  the  sentiment  is  ac 
tive,  while  it  derives  new  force  from  the  point  with 
which  it  has  been  expressed.  An  officer  of  our  navy, 
one  of  the  heroes  nurtured  by  War,  whose  name  has 
been  praised  in  churches,  going  beyond  all  Greek,  all 
Eoman  example,  exclaimed,  "Our  country,  right  or 
wrong"  —  a  sentiment  dethroning  God  and  enthroning 
the  Devil,  whose  flagitious  character  must  be  rebuked 
by  every  honest  heart.  How  different  was  virtuous 
Andrew  Fletcher,  whose  heroical  uprightness,  amidst 
the  trials  of  his  time,  has  become  immortal  in  the  say 
ing,  that  he  "would  readily  lose  his  life  to  serve  his 
country,  but  would  not  do  a  base  thing  to  save  it."1 
Better  words,  or  more  truly  patriotic,  were  never  uttered. 
"  Our  country,  our  whole  country,  and  nothing  but  our 
country"  are  other  delusive  sounds,  which,  first  falling 
from  the  lips  of  an  eminent  American  orator,  are  often 
painted  on  banners,  and  echoed  by  innumerable  multi 
tudes.  Cold  and  dreary,  narrow  and  selfish  would  be 

1  Character,  prefixed  to  Political  Works,  p.  viii. 


70  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

this  life,  if  nothing  but  our  country  occupied  the  soul,  — 
if  the  thoughts  that  wander  through  eternity,  if  the 
infinite  affections  of  our  nature*,  were  restrained  to  that 
place  where  we  find  ourselves  by  the  accident  of  birth. 

By  a  natural  sentiment  we  incline  to  the  spot  where 
we  were  born,  to  the  fields  that  witnessed  the  sports  of 
childhood,  to  the  seat  of  youthful  studies,  and  to  the 
institutions  under  which  we  have  been  trained.  The 
finger  of  God  writes  all  these  things  indelibly  upon  the 
heart  of  man,  so  that  even  in  death  he  reverts  with 
fondness  to  early  associations,  and  longs  for  a  draught 
of  cold  water  from  the  bucket  in  his  father's  well.  This 
sentiment  is  independent  of  reflection :  for  it  begins  be 
fore  reflection,  grows  with  our  growth,  and  strengthens 
with  our  strength.  It  is  the  same  in  all  countries  hav 
ing  the  same  degree  of  enlightenment,  differing  only 
according  to  enlightenment,  under  whose  genial  in 
fluence  it  softens  and  refines.  It  is  the  strongest  with 
those  least  enlightened.  The  wretched  Hottentot  never 
travels  away  from  his  melting  sun ;  the  wretched  Esqui 
mau  never  travels  away  from  his  freezing  cold  ;  nor 
does  either  know  or  care  for  other  lands.  This  is  his 
patriotism.  The  same  instinct  belongs  to  animals. 
There  is  no  beast  not  instinctively  a  patriot,  cherish 
ing  his  own  country  with  all  its  traditions,  which  he 
guards  instinctively  against  all  comers.  Thus  again,  in 
considering  the  origin  of  War,  do  we  encounter  the  ani 
mal  in  man.  But  as  human  nature  is  elevated,  as  the 
animal  is  subdued,  that  patriotism  which  is  without  rea 
son  shares  the  generous  change  and  gradually  loses  its 
barbarous  egotism.  To  the  enlarged  vision  a  new  world 
is  disclosed,  and  we  begin  to  discern  the  distant  moun 
tain-peaks,  all  gilded  by  the  beams  of  morning,  reveal- 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  71 

ing  that  God  has  not  placed  us  alone  on  this  earth,  but 
that  others,  equally  with  ourselves,  are  children  of  his 
care. 

The  curious  spirit  goes  further,  and,  while  recognizing 
an  inborn  attachment  to  the  place  of  birth,  searches  into 
the  nature  of  the  allegiance  required.  According  to  the 
old  idea,  still  too  prevalent,  man  is  made  for  the  State, 
not  the  State  for  man.  Far  otherwise  is  the  truth.  The 
State  is  an  artificial  body,  for  the  security  of  the  peo 
ple.  How  constantly  do  we  find  in  human  history  that 
the  people  are  sacrificed  for  the  State,  —  to  build  the 
Roman  name,  to  secure  for  England  the  trident  of  the 
sea,  to  carry  abroad  the  conquering  eagles  of  France ! 
This  is  to  barter  the  greater  for  the  less,  —  to  sacrifice 
humanity,  embracing  more  even  than  country  all  the 
charities  of  all,  for  the  sake  of  a  mistaken  grandeur. 

Not  that  I  love  country  less,  but  Humanity  more,  do 
I  now  and  here  plead  the  cause  of  a  higher  and  truer 
patriotism.  I  cannot  forget  that  we  are  men  by  a  more 
sacred  bond  than  we  are  citizens,  —  that  we  are  children 
of  a  common  Father  more  than  we  are  Americans. 

Thus  do  seeming  diversities  of  nations  —  separated 
by  accident  of  language,  mountain,  river,  or  sea' — all 
disappear,  and  the  multitudinous  tribes  of  the  globe 
stand  forth  as  members  of  one  vast  Human  Family, 
where  strife  is  treason  to  Heaven,  and  all  war  is  nothing 
else  than  civil  war.  In  vain  restrict  this  odious  term, 
importing  so  much  of  horror,  to  the  dissensions  of  a 
single  community.  It  belongs  also  to  feuds  between 
nations.  The  soul  trembles  aghast  in  the  contempla 
tion  of  fields  drenched  with  fraternal  gore,  where  the 
happiness  of  homes  is  shivered  by  neighbors,  and  kins 
man  sinks  beneath  the  steel  nerved  by  a  kinsman's 


72  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

hand.  This  is  civil  war,  accursed  forever  in  the  calen 
dar  of  Time.  In  the  faithful  record  of  the  future,  rec 
ognizing  the  True  Grandeur  of  Nations,  the  Muse  of 
History,  inspired  by  a  loftier  justice  and  touched  to  finer 
sensibilities,  will  extend  to  Universal  Man  the  sympa 
thy  now  confined  to  country,  and  no  war  will  be  waged 
without  arousing  everlasting  judgment. 

6.  I  might  here  pause,  feeling  that  those  who  have 
accompanied  me  to  this  stage  will  be  ready  to  join  in 
condemnation  of  War,  and  to  hail  Peace  as  the  only  con 
dition  becoming  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  while  it 
opens  vistas  of  all  kinds  abundant  with  the  most  fruit 
ful  promises.  But  there  is  one  other  consideration, 
yielding  to  none  in  importance,  —  perhaps  more  impor 
tant  than  all,  being  at  once  cause  and  effect,  —  the  cause 
of  strong  prejudice  in  favor  of  War,  and  the  effect  of 
this  prejudice.  I  refer  to  Preparations  for  War  in  time 
of  Peace.  Here  is  an  immense  practical  evil,  requiring 
remedy.  In  exposing  its  character  too  much  care  can 
not  be  taken. 

I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  fearful  cost  of  War  itself. 
That  is  present  in  the  mountainous  accumulations  of 
debt,  piled  like  Ossa  upon  Pelion,  with  which  civili 
zation  is  pressed  to  earth.  According  to  the  most  recent 
tables,  the  public  debt  of  European  nations,  so  far  as 
known,  amounts  to  the  terrific  sum  of  $  7,777,521,840, 
—  all  the  growth  of  War !  It  is  said  that  there  are 
throughout  these  nations  17,000,000  paupers,  or  persons 
subsisting  at  the  public  expense,  without  contributing 
to  its  resources.  If  these  millions  of  public  debt,  form 
ing  only  a  part  of  what  has  been  wasted  in  War,  could 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  73 

be  apportioned  among  these  poor,  it  would  give  to  each 
$  450,  —  a  sum  placing  all  above  want,  and  about  equal 
to  the  average  wealth  of  an  inhabitant  of  Massachu 
setts. 

The  public  debt  of  Great  Britain  in  1842  reached  to 
$3,827,833,102,  the  growth  of  War  since  1688.  This 
amount  is  equal  to  two  thirds  of  all  the  harvest  of 
gold  and  silver  yielded  by  Spanish  America,  including 
Mexico  and  Peru,  from  the  discovery  of  our  hemi 
sphere  by  Christopher  Columbus  to  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  as  calculated  by  Humboldt.1  It 
is  much  larger  than  the  mass  of  all  the  precious  metals 
constituting  at  this  moment  the  circulating  medium 
of  the  world.  Sometimes  it  is  rashly  said,  by  those 
who  have  given  little  attention  to  the  subject,  that 
all  this  expenditure  has  been  widely  distributed,  and 
therefore  beneficial  to  the  people ;  but  this  apology  for 
gets  that  it  has  not  been  bestowed  on  any  produc 
tive  industry  or  useful  object.  The  magnitude  of  this 
waste  appears  by  contrast.  For  instance,  the  aggre 
gate  capital  of  all  the  joint-stock  companies  in  Eng 
land  of  which  there  was  any  known  record  in  1842, 
embracing  canals,  docks,  bridges,  insurance,  banks,  gas 
lights,  water,  mines,  railways,  and  other  miscellaneous 
objects,  was  about  $  800,000,000,  —  all  devoted  to  the 
welfare  of  the  people,  but  how  much  less  in  amount 
than  the  War  Debt!  For  the  six  years  preceding 
1842,  the  average  payment  for  interest  on  this  debt 
was  $  141,645,157  annually.  If  we  add  to  this  sum 
the  further  annual  outlay  of  $66,780,817  for  the  army, 
navy,  and  ordnance,  we  shall  have  $208,425,974  as 
the  annual  tax  of  the  English  people,  to  pay  for  for- 

1  New  Spain,  Vol.  III.  p.  481. 
VOL.   I.  4 


74  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OP  NATIONS. 

mer  wars  and  prepare  for  new.  During  this  same 
period,  an  annual  appropriation  of  $24,858,442  was 
sufficient  for  the  entire  civil  service.  Thus  War  con 
sumed  ninety  cents  of  every  dollar  pressed  by  heavy 
taxation  from  the  English  people.  What  fabulous  mon 
ster,  what  chimaera  dire,  ever  raged  with  a  maw  so  rav 
enous  ?  The  remaining  ten  cents  sufficed  to  maintain 
the  splendor  of  the  throne,  the  administration  of  justice, 
and  diplomatic  relations  with  foreign  powers,  —  in  short, 
all  the  more  legitimate  objects  of  a  nation.1 

Thus  much  for  the  general  cost  of  War.  Let  us  now 
look  exclusively  at  the  Preparations  for  War  in  time  of 
Peace.  It  is  one  of  the  miseries  of  War,  that  even  in 
Peace  its  evils  continue  to  be  felt  beyond  any  other 
by  which  suffering  humanity  is  oppressed.  If  Bellona 
withdraws  from  the  field,  we  only  lose  sight  of  her  flam 
ing  torches;  the  baying  of  her  dogs  is  heard  on  the 
mountains,  and  civilized  man  thinks  to  find  protection 
from  their  sudden  fury  only  by  inclosing  himself  in  the 
barbarous  armor  of  battle.  At  this  moment,  the  Chris- 
.  tian  nations,  worshipping  a  symbol  of  common  brother 
hood,  occupy  intrenched  camps,  with  armed  watch,  to 
prevent  surprise  from  each  other.  Kecognizing  War 
as  Arbiter  of  Justice,  they  hold  themselves  perpetually 
ready  for  the  bloody  umpirage. 

It  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  arrive  at  any  exact 
estimate  of  these  Preparations,  ranging  under  four  dif 
ferent  heads,  —  Standing  Army,  Navy,  Fortifications, 
and  Militia,  or  irregular  troops. 

1  Here  and  in  subsequent  page*  I  have  relied  upon  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  the  Annual  Register,  McCulloch's  Commercial  Dictionary,  Lau 
rie's  Universal  Geography,  founded  on  the  works  of  Malte-Brun  and  Balbi, 
and  the  calculations  of  Hon.  William  Jay,  in  War  and  Peace,  p.  16,  and 
in  his  Address  before  the  Peace  Society,  pp.  28,  29. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  75 

The  number  of  soldiers  now  affecting  to  keep  the 
peace  of  European  Christendom,  as  a  Standing  Army, 
without  counting  the  Navy,  is  upwards  of  two  millions : 
some  estimates  place  it  as  high  as  three  millions.  The 
army  of  Great  Britain,  including  the  forces  in  India, 
exceeds  300,000  men  ;  that  of  France,  350,000 ;  that  of 
Russia,  730,000,  and  is  reckoned  by  some  as  high  as 
1,000,000 ;  that  of  Austria,  275,000 ;  that  of  Prussia, 
150,000.  Taking  the  smaller  number,  and  supposing 
these  two  millions  to  require  for  their  support  an  aver 
age  annual  sum  of  only  $  150  each,  the  result  would 
be  $300,000,000  for  sustenance  alone;  and  reckoning 
one  officer  to  ten  soldiers,  and  allowing  to  each  of  the 
latter  an  English  shilling  a  day,  or  $  88.33  a  year,  for 
wages,  and  to  the  former  an  average  annual  salary  of 
$  500,  we  have  for  the  pay  of  the  whole  no  less  than 
$  258,994,000,  or  an  appalling  sum-total,  for  both  suste 
nance  and  pay,  of  $  558,994,000  a  year.  If  the  same  cal 
culation  be  made,  supposing  the  force  three  millions,  the 
sum-total  will  be'$  838,491,000  !  But  to  this  enormous 
sum  *nust  be  added  another  still  more  enormous,  on 
account  of  loss  sustained  by  the  withdrawal  of  these 
hardy,  healthy  millions,  in  the  bloom  of  life,  from  use 
ful,  productive  labor.  It  is  supposed  that  it  costs  an 
average  sum  of  $500  to  rear  a  soldier,  and  that  the 
value  of  his  labor,  if  devoted  to  useful  objects,  would 
be  $  150  a  year.  Therefore,  in  setting  apart  two  mil 
lions  of  men  as  soldiers,  the  Christian  powers  sustain 
a  loss  of  $1,000,000,000  on  account  of  training, 
and  $300,000,000- on  account  of  labor,  in  addition 
to  the  millions  annually  expended  for  sustenance  and 
pay.  So  much  for  the  Standing  Army  of  Christian 
Europe  in  time  of  Peace. 


76  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

Glance  now  at  the  Navy.  The  Royal  Navy  of  Great 
Britain  consists  at  present  of  557  ships ;  but  deducting 
such  as  are  used  for  convict  ships,  floating  chapels,  and 
coal  depots,  the  efficient  Navy  comprises  88  ships  of  the 
line,  109  frigates,  190  small  frigates,  corvettes,  brigs,  and 
cutters,  including  packets,  65  steamers  of  various  sizes, 
3  troop-ships  and  yachts :  in  all,  455  ships.  Of  these, 
in  1839,  190  were  in  commission,  carrying  in  all  4,202 
guns,  with  crews  numbering  34,465  men.  The  Navy  of 
France,  though  not  comparable  with  that  of  England, 
is  of  vast  force.  By  royal  ordinance  of  1st  January, 
1837,  it  was  fixed  in  time  of  peace  at  40  ships  of  the  line, 
50  frigates,  40  steamers,  and  19  smaller  vessels,  with 
crews  numbering,  in  1839,  20,317  men.  The  Russian 
Navy  is  composed  of  two  large  fleets, — one  in  the  Gulf 
of  Finland,  and  the  other  in  the  Black  Sea ;  but  the  ex 
act  amount  of  their  force  is  a  subject  of  dispute  among 
naval  men  and  publicists.  Some  idea  of  the  Navy  may 
be  derived  from  the  number  of  hands.  The  crews  of 
the  Baltic  amounted,  in  1837,  to  not  less  than  30,800 
men,  and  those  of  the  Bkck  Sea  to  19,800,  or  altogether 
50,600,  —  being  nearly  equal  to  those  of  England  and 
France  combined.  The  Austrian  Navy  comprised,  in 
1837,  8  ships  of  the  line,  8  frigates,  4  sloops,  6  brigs, 
7  schooners  or  galleys,  and  smaller  vessels :  the  num 
ber  of  men  in  its  service,  in  1839,  was  4,547.  The 
Navy  of  Denmark  comprised,  at  the  close  of  1837,  7 
ships  of  the  line,  7  frigates,  5  sloops,  6  brigs,  3  schoon 
ers,  5  cutters,  58  gunboats,  6  gun-rafts,  and  3  bomb- 
vessels,  requiring  about  6,500  men.  The  Navy  of 
Sweden  and  Norway  consisted  recently  of  238  gun 
boats,  11  ships  of  the  line,  8  frigates,  4  corvettes,  and 
6  brigs,  with  several  smaller  vessels.  The  Navy  of 


THE  TRUE   GEANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  77 

Greece  has  32  ships  of  war,  carrying  190  guns,  with 
2,400  men.  The  Navy  of  Holland,  in  1839,  had  8 
ships  of  the  line,  21  frigates,  15  corvettes,  21  brigs, 
and  95  gunboats.  Of  the  untold  cost  absorbed  in 
these  mighty  Preparations  it  is  impossible  to  form  an 
accurate  idea.  But  we  may  lament  that  means  so 
gigantic  are  applied  by  Christian  Europe,  in  time  of 
Peace,  to  the  construction  and  maintenance  of  such  su 
perfluous  wooden  walls. 

In  the  Fortifications  and  Arsenals  of  Europe,  crown 
ing  every  height,  commanding  every  valley,  frowning 
over  every  plain  and  every  sea,  wealth  beyond  calcu 
lation  has  been  sunk.  Who  can  tell  the  immense 
sums  expended  in  hollowing  out  the  living  rock  of 
Gibraltar  ?  Who  can  calculate  the  cost  of  all  the 
Preparations  at  Woolwich,  its  27,000  cannon,  and  its 
small  arms  counted  by  hundreds  of  thousands  ?  France 
alone  contains  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  for 
tified  places ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  yet  unfinished 
fortifications  of  Paris  have  cost  upward  of  fifty  millions 
of  dollars. 

The  cost  of  the  Militia,  or  irregular  troops,  the  Yeo 
manry  of  England,  the  National  Guard  of  Paris,  and 
the  Landwehr  and  Landsturm  of  Prussia,  must  add 
other  incalculable  sums  to  these  enormous  amounts. 

Turn  now  to  the  United  States,  separated  by  a  broad 
ocean  from  immediate  contact  with  the  Great  Powers 
of  Christendom,  bound  by  treaties  of  amity  and  com 
merce  with  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  connected  with 
all  by  strong  ties  of  mutual  interest,  and  professing  a 
devotion  to  the  principles  of  Peace.  Are  Treaties  of 
Amity  mere  words  ?  Are  relations  of  Commerce  and 
mutual  interest  mere  things  of  a  day  ?  Are  professions 


78  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

of  Peace  vain  ?  Else  why  not  repose  in  quiet,  unvexed 
by  Preparations  for  War  ? 

Colossal  as  are  European  expenditures  for  these 
purposes,  they  are  still  greater  among  us  in  proportion 
to  other  expenses  of  the  National  Government. 

It  appears  that  the  average  annual  expenses  of 
the  National  Government,  for  the  six  years  ending 
1840,  exclusive  of  payments  on  account  of  debt,  were 
$26,474,892.  Of  this  sum,  the  average  appropriation 
each  year  for  military  and  naval  purposes  amounted 
to  $  21,328,903,  being  eighty  per  cent.  Yes,  —  of  all 
the  annual  appropriations  by  the  National  Govern 
ment,  eighty  cents  in  every  dollar  were  applied  in  this 
unproductive  manner.  The  remaining  twenty  cents  suf 
ficed  to  maintain  the  Government  in  all  its  branches, 
Executive,  Legislative,  and  Judicial,  —  the  administra 
tion  of  justice,  our  relations  with  foreign  nations,  the 
post-office,  and  all  the  lighthouses,  which,  in  happy,  use 
ful  contrast  with  the  forts,  shed  their  cheerful  signals 
over  the  rough  waves  beating  upon  our  long  and  in 
dented  coast,  from  the  Bay  of  Fundy  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  relative  expenditures  of  nations 
for  Military  Preparations  in  time  of  Peace,  exclusive 
of  payments  on  account  of  debts,  when  accurately  un 
derstood,  must  surprise  the  advocates  of  economy  in 
our  country.  In  proportion  to  the  whole  expenditure 
of  Government,  they  are,  in  Austria,  as  33  per  cent ;  in 
France,  as  38  per  cent ;  in  Prussia,  as  44  per  cent ;  in 
Great  Britain,  as  74  per  cent ;  in  the  UNITED  STATES,  as 
80  per  cent!1 

1  I  have  verified  these  results,  but  do  little  more  than  follow  Judge  Jay, 
who  has  illustrated  this  important  point  with  his  accustomed  accuracy. — 
Addrut  befort  the  American  Peace  Society,  p.  30. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  79 

To  this  stupendous  waste  may  be  added  the  still 
larger  and  equally  superfluous  expenses  of  the  Militia 
throughout  the  country,  placed  recently  by  a  candid 
and  able  writer  at  $50,000,000  a  year  I1 

By  a  table  of  the  National  expenditures,2  exclusive  of 
payments  on  account  of  the  Public  Debt,  it  appears, 
that,  in  fifty-four  years  from  tlie  formation  of  our 
present  Government,  that  is,  from  1789  down  to  1843, 
$155,282,217  were  expended  for  civil  purposes,  com 
prehending  the  executive,  the  legislative,  the  judiciary, 
the  post-office,  light-houses,  and  intercourse  with  foreign 
governments.  During  this  same  period,  $  370,981,521 
were  devoted  to  the  Military  establishment,  and 
$169,707,214  to  the  Naval  establishment,  —  the  two 
forming  an  aggregate  of  $540,688,735.  Deducting 
from  this  amount  appropriations  during  three  years 
of  War,  and  we  find  that  more  than  four  hundred 
and  sixty  millions  were  absorbed  by  vain  Preparations 
for  War  in  time  of  Peace.  Add  to  this  amount  a 
moderate  sum  for  the  expenses  of  the  Militia  during 
the  same  period,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  placed 
at  $50,000,000  a  year,  —  for  the  past  years  we  may 
take  an  average  of  $25,000,000,  —  and  we  have  the 
enormous  sum-total  of  $1,350,000,000  piled  upon  the 
$460,000,000,  the  whole  amounting  to  eighteen  hun 
dred  and  ten  millions  of  dollars,  a  sum  not  easily  con 
ceived  by  the  human  faculties,  sunk,  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  the  National  Government,  in  mere  peaceful 
Preparations  for  War :  almost  twelve  times  as  much  as 
was  dedicated  by  the  National  Government,  during  the 
same  period,  to  all  other  purposes  whatsoever. 

1  Jay,  War  and  Peace,  p.  13. 

2  Executive  Document  No.  16,  Twenty-Eighth  Congress,  First  Session, 
pp.  1018  - 19. 


80  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

From  this  serried  array  of  figures  the  mind  instinc 
tively  recoils.  If  we  examine  them  from  a  nearer  point 
of  view,  and,  selecting  some  particular  item,  compare  it 
with  the  figures  representing  other  interests  in  the  com 
munity,  they  will  present  a  front  still  more  dread. 

Within  cannon-range  of  this  city  stands  an  institu 
tion  of  learning  which  was  one  of  the  earliest  cares  of 
our  forefathers,  the  conscientious  Puritans.  Favored 
child  in  an  age  of  trial  and  struggle,  —  carefully  nursed 
through  a  period  of  hardship  and  anxiety,  —  endowed 
at  that  time  by  the  oblations  of  men  like  Harvard,  —  sus 
tained  from  its  first  foundation  by  the  parental  arm  of  the 
Commonwealth,  by  a  constant  succession  of  munificent 
bequests,  and  by  the  prayers  of  good  men,  —  the  Uni 
versity  at  Cambridge  now  invites  our  homage,  as  the 
most  ancient,  most  interesting,  and  most  important  seat 
of  learning  in  the  land,  —  possessing  the  oldest  and 
most  valuable  library,  —  one  of  the  largest  museums 
of  mineralogy  and  natural  history,  —  with  a  School  of 
Law  which  annually  receives  into  its  bosom  more  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  sons  from  all  parts  of  the  Union, 
where  they  listen  to  instruction  from  professors  whose 
names  are  among  the  most  valuable  possessions  of  the 
land,  —  also  a  School  of  Divinity,  fount  of  true  learning 
and  piety,  —  also  one  of  the  largest  and  most  flourish 
ing  Schools  of  Medicine  in  the  country,  —  and  besides 
these,  a  general  body  of  teachers,  twenty-seven  in  num 
ber,  many  of  whose  names  help  to  keep  the  name  of 
the  country  respectable  in  every  part  of  the  globe, 
where  science,  learning,  and  taste  are  cherished,  —  the 
whole  presided  over  at  this  moment  by  a  gentleman 
early  distinguished  in  public  life  by  unconquerable 
energy  and  masculine  eloquence,  at  a  later  period  by 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  81 

the  unsurpassed  ability  with  which  he  administered  the 
affairs  of  our  city,  and  now,  in  a  green  old  age,  full  of 
years  and  honors,  preparing  to  lay  down  his  present 
high  trust.1  Such  is  Harvard  University;  and  as  one 
of  the  humblest  of  her  children,  happy  in  the  memories 
of  a  youth  nurtured  in  her  classic  retreats,  I  cannot 
allude  to  her  without  an  expression  of  filial  affection 
and  respect. 

It  appears  from  the  last  Report  of  the  Treasurer, 
that  the  whole  available  property  of  the  University, 
the  various  accumulation  of  more  than  two  centuries 
of  generosity,  amounts  to  $  703,175. 

Change  the  scene,  and  cast  your  eyes  upon  another 
object.  There  now  swings  idly  at  her  moorings  in  this 
harbor  a  ship  of  the  line,  the  Ohio,  carrying  ninety 
guns,  finished  as  late  as  1836  at  an  expense  of 
8547,888,  —  repaired  only  two  years  afterwards,  in 
1838,  for  $233,012,  —  with  an  armament  which  has 
cost  $53,945,  —  making  an  aggregate  of  $834,845, 
as  the  actual  outlay  at  this  moment  for  that  single 
ship,2  —  more  than  $  100,000  beyond  all  the  available 
wealth  of  the  richest  and  most  ancient  seat  of  learning 
in  the  land !  Choose  ye,  my  fellow-citizens  of  a  Chris 
tian  state,  between  the  two  caskets, — that  wherein  is 
the  loveliness  of  truth,  or  that  which  contains  the 
carrion  death. 

I  refer  to  the  Ohio  because  this  ship  happens  to  be 
in  our  waters  ;  but  I  do  not  take  the  strongest  case 
afforded  by  our  Navy.  Other  ships  have  absorbed 
larger  sums.  The  expense  of  the  Delaware,  in  1842, 
had  reached  $1,051,000. 

1  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy. 

2  Executive  Document  Xo.  132,  Twenty-Seventh  Congress,  Third  Session. 

4»  V 


82  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

Pursue  the  comparison  still  further.  The  expendi 
tures  of  the  University  during  the  last  year,  for  the 
general  purposes  of  the  College,  the  instruction  of  the 
Undergraduates,  and  for  the  Schools  of  Law  and  Divin 
ity,  amounted  to  847,935.  The  cost  of  the  Ohio  for 
one  year  of  service,  in  salaries,  wages,  and  provisions, 
is  $  220,000,  —  being  $  172,000  above  the  annual  expen 
ditures  of  the  University,  and  more  than  four  times  as 
much  as  those  expenditures.  In  other  words,  for  the 
annual  sum  lavished  on  a  single  ship  of  the  line,  four 
institutions  like  Harvard  University  might  be  sup 
ported. 

Furthermore,  the  pay  of  the  Captain  of  a  ship  like 
the  Ohio  is  $  4,500,  when  in  sendee,  —  $  3,500,  when  on 
leave  of  absence,  or  off  duty.  The  salary  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  Harvard  University  is  $2,235,  without  leave 
of  absence,  and  never  off  duty. 

If  the  large  endowments  of  Harvard  University  are 
dwarfed  by  comparison  with  a  single  ship  of  the  line, 
how  must  it  be  with  other  institutions  of  learning  and 
beneficence,  less  favored  by  the  bounty  of  many  genera 
tions  ?  The  average  cost  of  a  sloop  of  war  is  S  3 1 5,000,  — 
more,  probably,  than  all  the  endowments  of  those  twin 
stars  of  learning  in  the  Western  part  of  Massachusetts, 
the  Colleges  at  "Williamstown  and  Amherst,  and  of  that 
single  star  in  the  East,  the  guide  to  many  ingenuous 
youth,  the  Seminary  at  Andover.  The  yearly  expense 
of  a  sloop  of  war  in  service  is  about  $50,000,  —  more 
than  the  annual  expenditures  of  these  three  institutions 
combined. 

I  might  press  the  comparison  with  other  institutions 
of  beneficence,  —  with  our  annual  appropriations  for 
the  Blind,  that  noble  and  successful  charity  which 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  83 

sheds  true  lustre  upon  the  Commonwealth,  amount 
ing  to  $  12,000,  and  for  the  Insane,  another  charity 
dear  to  humanity,  amounting  to  $27,844. 

Take  all  the  institutions  of  Learning  and  Beneficence, 
the  crown  jewels  of  the  Commonwealth,  schools,  col 
leges,  hospitals,  asylums,  and  the  sums  by  which  they 
have  been  purchased  and  preserved  are  trivial  and 
beggarly,  compared  with  the  treasures  squandered  with 
in  the  borders  of  Massachusetts  in  vain  Preparations 
for  War,  —  upon  the  Navy  Yard  at  Charlestown,  with 
its  stores  on  hand,  costing  $4,741,000,  —  the  fortifi 
cations  in  the  harbors  of  Massachusetts,  where  untold 
sums  are  already  sunk,  and  it  is  now  proposed  to  sink 
$  3,875,000  more,1  —  and  the  Arsenal  at  Springfield,  con 
taining,  in  1842, 175,118  muskets,  valued  at  $  2,099,998,a 
and  maintained  by  an  annual  appropriation  of  $  200,000, 
whose  highest  value  will  ever  be,  in  the  judgment  of  all 
lovers  of  truth,  that  it  inspired  a  poem  which  in  in 
fluence  will  be  mightier  than  a  battle,  and  will  endure 
when  arsenals  and  fortifications  have  crumbled  to  earth. 
Some  of  the  verses  of  this  Psalm  of  Peace  may  relieve 
the  detail  of  statistics,  while  they  happily  blend  with 
my  argument. 

"  Were  half  the  power  that  fills  the  world  with  terror, 

Were  half  the  wealth  bestowed  on  camps  and  courts, 
Given  to  redeem  the  human  mind  from  error, 
There  were  no  need  of  arsenals  or  forts : 

"  The  warrior's  name  would  be  a  name  abhorred, 

And  every  nation  that  should  lift  again 
Its  hand  against  a  brother  on  its  forehead 

Would  wear  forevermore  the  curse  of  Cain."  * 

1  Report  of  Secretary  of  War,  Senate  Document  No.  2,  Twenty-Seventh 
Congress,  Second  Session,  —  where  we  are  asked  to  invest  in  a  general  sys 
tem  of  land  defences  $  61,677,929. 

2  Executive  Document  No.  3,  Twenty-Seventh  Congress,  Third  Session. 
8  Longfellow,  The  Arsenal  at  Springfield. 


84  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

Turn  now  to  a  high  and  peculiar  interest  of  the 
nation,  the  administration  of  justice.  Perhaps  no  part 
of  our  system  is  regarded  with  more  pride  and  confi 
dence,  especially  by  the  enlightened  sense  of  the  coun 
try.  To  this,  indeed,  all  other  concerns  of  Government, 
with  all  its  complications  of  machinery,  are  in  a  man 
ner  subordinate,  since  it  is  for  the  sake  of  justice  that 
men  come  together  in  communities  and  establish  laws. 
"NVliat  part  of  the  Government  can  compare  in  impor 
tance  with  the  National  Judiciary,  that  great  balance- 
wheel  of  the  Constitution,  controlling  the  relations  of 
the  several  States  to  each  other,  the  legislation  of  Con 
gress  and  of  the  States,  besides  private  interests  to  an 
incalculable  amount  ?  Nor  can  the  citizen  who  discerns 
the  true  glory  of  his  country  fail  to  recognize  in  the  im 
mortal  judgments  of  MARSHALL,  now  departed,  and  of 
STORY,  who  is  still  spared  to  us  —  serus  in  ccdum  redeat ! 
—  a  higher  claim  to  admiration  and  gratitude  than  can 
be  found  in  any  triumph  of  battle.  The  expenses  of 
this  great  department  under  the  National  Govern 
ment,  in  1842,  embracing  the  cost  of  court-houses,  the 
salaries  of  judges,  the  pay  of  juries,  and  of  all  the  law 
officers  throughout  the  United  States,  in  short,-  all  the 
outlay  by  which  justice,  according  to  the  requirement 
of  Magna  Charta,  is  carried  to  every  man's  door, 
amounted  to  8  560,990,  —  a  larger  sum  than  is  usually 
appropriated  for  this  purpose,  but  how  insignificant 
compared  with  the  cormorant  demands  of  Army  and 
Navy! 

Let  me  allude  to  one  more  curiosity  of  waste.  By  a 
calculation  founded  on  the  expenses  of  the  Navy  it 
appears  that  the  average  cost  of  eacli  gun  carried  over 
the  ocean  for  one  year  amounts  to  about  fifteen  thou- 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  85 

sand  dollars,  —  a  sum  sufficient  to  maintain  ten  or  even 
twenty  professors  of  Colleges,  and  equal  to  the  salaries 
of  all  the  Judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachu 
setts  and  the  Governor  combined  ! 

Such  are  illustrations  of  that  tax  which  nations  con 
stituting  the  great  Federation  of  Civilization,  including 
our  own  country,  impose  on  the  people,  in  time  of  pro 
found  peace,  for  no  permanent  productive  work,  for  no 
institution  of  learning,  for  no  gentle  charity,  for  no  pur 
pose  of  good.  Wearily  climbing  from  expenditure  to 
expenditure,  from  waste  to  waste,  we  seem  to  pass  be 
yond  the  region  of  ordinary  measurement;  Alps  on 
Alps  arise,  on  whose  crowning  heights  of  everlasting 
cold,  far  above  the  habitations  of  man,  where  no  green 
thing  lives,  where  no  creature  draws  breath,  we  behold 
the  sharp,  icy,  flashing  glacier  of  War. 

In  the  contemplation  of  this  spectacle  the  soul  swells 
with  alternate  despair  and  hope:  with  despair,  at  the 
thought  of  such  wealth,  capable  of  such  service  to  Hu 
manity,  not  merely  wasted,  but  bestowed  to  perpetuate 
Hate;  with  hope,  as  the  blessed  vision  arises  of  all 
these  incalculable  means  secured  to  purposes  of  Peace. 
The  whole  world  labors  with  poverty  and  distress ;  and 
the  painful  question  occurs  in  Europe  more  than  here, 
What  shall  become  of  the  poor, —  the  increasing 
Standing  Army  of  the  poor  ?  Could  the  voice  that  now 
addresses  you  penetrate  those  distant  coimcils,  or  coun 
cils  nearer  home,  it  would  say,  Disband  your  Standing 
Armies  of  soldiers,  employ  your  Navies  in  peaceful  and 
enriching  commerce,  abandon  Fortifications  and  Arse 
nals,  or  dedicate  them  to  works  of  Beneficence,  as  the 
statue  of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  was  changed  to  the  image 


86  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

of  a  Christian  saint ;  in  fine,  utterly  renounce  the  pres 
ent  incongruous  system  of  Armed  Peace. 

That  I  may  not  seem  to  accept  this  conclusion  too 
hastily,  at  least  as  regards  our  own  country,  I  shall  con 
sider  the  asserted  usefulness  of  the  national  arma 
ments, —  and  then  expose  the  fallacy,  at  least  in  the 
present  age  and  among  Christian  nations,  of  the  maxim, 
that  in  time  of  Peace  we  must  prepare  for  War. 

For  what  use  is  tlie  Standing  Army  of  tJie  United 
States  ?  For  many  generations  it  has  been  a  principle 
of  freedom  to  avoid  a  standing  army ;  and  one  of  the 
complaints  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was, 
that  George  the  Third  had  quartered  large  bodies  of 
troops  in  the  Colonies.  For  the  first  years  after  the 
adoption  of  the  National  Constitution,  during  our  period 
of  weakness,  before  our  power  was  assured,  before  our 
name  had  become  respected  in  the  family  of  nations, 
under  the  administration  of  Washington,  a  small  sum 
was  ample  for  the  military  establishment  of  the  United 
States.  It  was  at  a  later  day  that  the  country,  touched 
by  martial  insanity,  abandoned  the  true  economy  of  a 
Republic,  and,  in  imitation  of  monarchical  powers, 
lavished  means,  grudged  to  Peace,  in  vain  preparation 
for  War.  It  may  now  be  said  of  our  Army,  as  Dunning 
said  of  the  influence  of  the  Crown,  it  has  increased,  is 
increasing,  and  ought  to  be  diminished.  At  this  mo 
ment  there  are  in  the  country  more  than  sixty  milita 
ry  posts.  For  any  of  these  it  would  be  difficult  to  pre 
sent  a  reasonable  apology,  —  unless,  perhaps,  on  some 
distant  Indian  frontier.  Of  what  use  is  the  detach 
ment  of  the  Second  Artillery  at  the  quiet  town  of  New 
London,  in  Connecticut  ?  Of  what  use  is  the  detach- 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  87 

ment  of  the  First  Artillery  in  that  pleasant  resort  of 
fashion,  Newport  ?  By  exhilarating  music  and  showy 
parade  they  may  amuse  an  idle  hour;  but  is  it  not 
equally  true  that  emotions  of  a  different  character  will 
be  aroused  in  thoughtful  bosoms  ?  He  must  have 
lost  something  of  sensibility  to  the  dignity  of  human 
nature  who  can  observe,  without  at  least  a  passing 
regret,  all  the  details  of  discipline  —  drill,  marching, 
countermarching  —  which  fill  the  life  of  the  soldier,  and 
prepare  him  to  become  the  rude,  inanimate  part  of  that 
machine  to  which  an  army  is  likened  by  the  great  liv 
ing  master  of  the  Art  of  War.1  And  this  sensibility 
may  be  more  disturbed  by  the  spectacle  of  ingenuous 
youth,  in  chosen  numbers,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Government,  amidst  the  bewitching  scenery  of  West 
Point,  painfully  trained  to  these  same  exercises,  —  at  a 
cost  to  the  country,  since  the  establishment  of  this 
Academy,  of  above  four  millions  of  dollars. 

In  Europe,  Standing  Armies  are  supposed  to  be. 
needed  in  support  of  Government ;  but  this  excuse  can 
not  prevail  here.  The  monarchs  of  the  Old  World,  like 
the  chiefs  of  the  ancient  German  tribes,  are  upborne  on 
the  shields  of  the  soldiery.  Happily,  with  us,  Govern 
ment  needs  no  janizaries.  The  hearts  of  the  people  are 
a  sufficient  support. 

I  hear  a  voice  from  some  defender  of  this  abuse,  some 
upholder  of  this  "  rotten  borough,"  crying,  The  Army  is 
needed  for  defence !  As  well  might  you  say  that  the 
shadow  is  needed  for  defence.  For  what  is  the  Army 
of  the  United  States,  but  the  feeble  shadow  of  the  Amer 
ican  people  ?  In  placing  tlu  Army  on  its  present  footing, 
so  small  in  numbers,  compared  with  the  forces  of  great 

1  The  Duke  of  Wellington. 


88  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

European  States,  our  Government  tacitly  admits  its  super- 
fluousness  for  defence.  It  only  remains  to  declare  that 
the  country  will  repose  in  the  consciousness  of  right, 
without  the  extravagance  of  soldiers,  unproductive  con 
sumers  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  who  might  do  the 
country  good  service  in  the  various  departments  of 
useful  industry. 

For  wJiat  use  is  the  Navy  of  the  United  States  ? 
The  annual  expense  of  our  Navy,  during  recent  years, 
has  been  upwards  of  six  millions  of  dollars.  For  what 
purpose  ?  Not  for  the  apprehension  of  pirates,  since 
frigates  and  ships  of  the  line  are  of  too  great  bulk  for 
this  service.  Not  for  the  suppression  of  the  Slave 
Trade ;  for,  under  the  stipulations  with  Great  Britain, 
we  employ  only  eighty  guns  in  this  holy  alliance.  Not 
to  protect  our  coasts ;  for  all  agree  that  our  few  ships 
would  form*  an  unavailing  defence  against  any  serious 
attack.  Not  for  these  purposes,  you  admit ;  but  for  the 
protection  of  our  Navigation.  This  is  not  the  occasion 
for  minute  estimates.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  an  intelli 
gent  merchant,  extensively  engaged  in  commerce  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  and  who  speaks,  therefore,  with  the 
authority  of  knowledge,  has  demonstrated,  in  a  tract  of 
perfect  clearness,1  that  the  annual  profits  of  the  whole 
mercantile  marine  of  the  country  do  not  equal  the  an 
nual  expenditure  of  our  Navy.  Admitting  the  profit 
of  a  merchant  ship  to  be  four  thousand  dollars  a  year, 
which  is  a  large  allowance,  it  will  take  the  earnings  pf 
one  hundred  ships  to  build  and  employ  for  one  year  a 
single  sloop  of  war,  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  ships  to 
build  and  employ  a  frigate,  and  of  nearly  three  hundred 

i  I  refer  to  the  pamphlet  of  S.  E.  Cones,  "  United  States  Navy:  What  Is 
its  Use?" 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  89 

ships  to  build  and  employ  a  ship  of  the  line.  Thus 
more  than  five  hundred  ships  must  do  a  profitable 
business  to  earn  a  sufficient  sum  for  the  support  of 
this  little  fleet.  Still  further,  taking  a  received  esti 
mate  putting  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  United  States 
at  forty  millions  of  dollars,  we  find  that  it  is  only  a 
little  more  than  six  times  the  annual  cost  of  the  Navy  ; 
so  that  this  interest  is  protected  at  a  charge  of  more  than 
fifteen  per  cent  of  its  whole  value  !  Protection  at  such 
price  is  not  less  ruinous  than  one  of  Pyrrhus's  victories. 

It  is  to  the  Navy  as  an  unnecessary  arm  of  national 
defence,  and  part  of  the  War  establishment,  that  I  con 
fine  my  objection.  So  far  as  it  is  required  for  science, 
or  for  the  police  of  the  seas,  —  to  scour  them  of  pirates, 
and,  above  all,  to  defeat  the  hateful  traffic  in  human 
flesh,  —  it  is  a  fit  engine  of  Government,  and  cannot  be 
obnoxious  as  a  portion  of  the  machinery  of  War.  But, 
surely,  a  most  costly  navy  to  protect  navigation  in  time 
of  Peace  against  assaults  from  civilized  nations  is  ab 
surdly  superfluous.  The  free  cities  of  Hamburg  and 
Bremen,  survivors  of  the  powerful  Hanseatic  League, 
with  a  commerce  whitening  the  most  distant  seas,  are 
without  a  single  ship  of  war.  Following  this  prudent 
example,  the  United  States  might  be  willing  to  abandon 
an  institution  already  become  a  vain  and  expensive 
toy. 

For  what  use  are  the  Fortifications  of  the  United 
States  ?  We  have  already  seen  the  enormous  sums 
locked  in  the  odious  mortmain  of  their  everlasting 
masonry.  Like  the  Pyramids,  they  seem  by  mass  and 
solidity  to  defy  Time.  Nor  can  I  doubt  that  hereafter, 
like  these  same  monuments,  they  will  be  looked  upon 
with  wonder,  as  the  types  of  an  extinct  superstition,  not 


90  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

less  degrading  than  that  of  Ancient  Egypt.  Under  the 
pretence  of  saving  the  country  from  conquest  and  blood 
shed  they  are  reared.  But  whence  the  danger  ?  On 
what  side  ?  What  people  to  fear  ?  No  civilized  na 
tion  threatens  our  borders  with  rapine  or  trespass. 
None  will.  Nor,  in  the  existing  state  of  civilization, 
and  under  existing  International  Law,  is  it  possible  to 
suppose  any  war  with  such  a  nation,  unless,  renoun 
cing  the  peaceful  Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  we  volun 
tarily  appeal  to  Trial  by  Battle.  The  fortifications 
might  be  of  service  then.  But  perhaps  they  would 
invite  the  attack  they  might  be  inadequate  to  defeat.. 
According  to  a  modern  rule,  illustrated  with  admirable 
ability  in  the  diplomatic  correspondence  of  Mr.  Web 
ster,  non-combatants  and  their  property  on  land  are 
not  molested.  So  firmly  did  the  Duke  of  Wellington 
act  upon  this  rule,  that,  throughout  the  revengeful  cam 
paigns  of  Spain,  and  afterwards  entering  France,  flushed 
with  the  victory  of  Waterloo,  he  directed  his  army  to 
pay  for  all  provisions,  even  the  forage  of  their  horses. 
War  is  carried  on  against  public  property,  — against 
fortifications,  navy-yards,  and  arsenals.  If  these  do  not 
exist,  where  is  its  aliment,  where  the  fuel  for  the 
flame  ?  Paradoxical  as  it  seems,  and  disparaging  to  the 
whole  trade  of  War,  it  may  be  proper  to  inquire,  wheth 
er,  according  to  acknowledged  laws,  now  governing  this 
bloody  arbitrament,  every  new  fortification  and  every 
additional  gun  in  our  harbor  is  not  less  a  safeguard  than 
a  danger.  Do  they  not  draw  the  lightning  of  battle 
upon  our  homes,  without,  alas  !  any  conductor  to  hurry 
its  terrors  innocently  beneath  the  concealing  bosom  of 
the  earth  ? 

For  what  use  is  the  Militia  of  the  United  States  ? 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  91 

This  immense  system  spreads,  with  innumerable  suck 
ers,  over  the  whole  country,  draining  its  best  life-blood, 
the  unbought  energies  of  our  youth.  The  same  painful 
discipline  which  we  observe  in  the  soldier  absorbs  their 
time,  though  to  a  less  degree  than  in  the  Regular  Army. 
Theirs  also  is  the  savage  pomp  of  War.  We  read  with 
astonishment  of  the  painted  flesh  and  uncouth  vest 
ments  of  our  progenitors,  the  ancient  Britons.  But  the 
generation  will  come,  that  must  regard  with  equal  won 
der  the  pictures  of  their  ancestors  closely  dressed  in 
padded  and  well-buttoned  coats  of  blue  "besmeared 
with  gold,"  surmounted  by  a  huge  mountain-cap  of 
shaggy  bear-skin,  and  with  a  barbarous  device,  typical 
of  brute  force,  a  tiger,  painted  on  oil-skin  tied  with 
leather  to  their  backs  !  In  the  streets  of  Pisa  the 
galley-slaves  are  compelled  to  wear  dresses  stamped 
with  the  name  of  the  crime  for  which  they  are  suffering 
punishment,  —  as  theft,  robbery,  murder.  Is  it  not  a 
little  strange  that  Christians,  living  in  a  land  "  where 
bells  have  tolled  to  church,"  should  voluntarily  adopt 
devices  which,  if  they  have  any  meaning,  recognize 
the  example  of  beasts  as  worthy  of  imitation  by  man  ? 

The  general  considerations  belonging  to  Preparations 
for  War  illustrate  the  inanity  of  the  Militia  for  pur 
poses  of  national  defence.  I  do  not  know,  indeed,  that 
it  is  now  strongly  urged  on  this  ground.  It  is  oftener 
approved  as  an  important  part  of  the  police.  I  would 
not  undervalue  the  advantage  of  an  active,  efficient, 
ever- wakeful  police ;  and  I  believe  that  such  a  police 
has  been  long  required.  But  the  Militia,  where  youth 
and  character  are  without  the  strength  of  experience,  is 
inadequate  for  this  purpose.  No  person  who  lias  seen 
this  arm  of  the  police  in  an  actual  riot  can  hesitate  in 


92  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.' 

this  judgment  A  very  small  portion  of  the  means 
absorbed  by  the  Militia  would  provide  a  substantial 
police,  competent  to  all  the  domestic  emergencies  of 
disorder  and  violence.  The  city  of  Boston  has  discarded 
a  Fire  Department  composed  of  accidental  volunteers. 
Why  not  do  the  same  with  the  police,  and  set  another 
example  to  the  country  ? 

I  am  well  aware  that  efforts  to  reduce  the  Militia 
are  encountered  by  some  of  the  dearest  prejudices  of  the 
common  mind,  —  not  only  by  the  War  Spirit,  but  by 
that  other,  which  first  animates  childhood,  and,  at  a 
later  day,  "children  of  a  larger  growth,"  inviting  to 
finery  of  dress  and  parade,  —  the  same  which  fantasti 
cally  bedecks  the  dusky  feather-cinctured  chief  of  the 
soft  regions  warmed  by  the  tropical  sun,  —  which  in 
serts  a  ring  in  the  nose  of  the  North  American  Indian, 
—  which  slits  the  ears  of  the  Australian  savage,  and 
tattoos  the  New  Zealand  cannibal 

Such  are  the  national  armaments,  in  their  true  char 
acter  and  value.  Thus  far  I  have  regarded  them  in 
the  plainest  light  of  ordinary  worldly  economy,  without 
reference  to  those  higher  considerations,  drawn  from 
the  nature  and  history  of  man  and  the  truths  of  Chris 
tianity,  which  pronounce  them  vain.  It  is  grateful  to 
know,  that,  though  having  yet  the  support  of  what 
Jeremy  Taylor  calls  "  popular  noises,"  the  other  more 
economical,  more  humane,  more  wise,  more  Christian 
system  is  daily  commending  itself  to  good  people.  On 
its  side  are  all  the  virtues  that  truly  elevate  a  state. 
Economy,  sick  of  pygmy  efforts  to  stanch  the  smallest 
fountain  and  rill  of  exuberant  expenditure,  pleads  that 
here  is  a  measureless,  fathomless,  endless  river,  an 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  93 

Amazon  of  waste,  rolling  its  prodigal  waters  turbidly, 
ruinously,  hatefully,  to  the  sea.  It  chides  us  with 
unnatural  inconsistency,  when  we  strain  at  a  little 
twine  and  paper,  and  swallow  the  monstrous  cables 
and  armaments  of  War.  Humanity  pleads  for  the 
surpassing  interests  of  Knowledge  and  Benevolence, 
from  which  such  mighty  means  are  withdrawn.  "Wis 
dom  frowns  on  these  Preparations,  as  nursing  senti 
ments  inconsistent  with  Peace ;  Christianity  calmly 
rebukes  the  spirit  in  which  they  have  their  origin,  as 
of  little  faith,  and  treacherous  to  her  high  behests; 
while  History,  exhibiting  the  sure,  though  gradual, 
Progress  of  Man,  points  with  unerring  finger  to  that 
destiny  of  True  Grandeur,  when  nations,  like  individu 
als,  disowning  War  as  a  proper  Arbiter  of  Justice,  shall 
abandon  the  oppressive  apparatus  of  Armies,  Navies, 
and  Fortifications,  by  which  it  is  waged. 

Before  considering  the  familiar  injunction,  In  time  of 
Peace  prepare  for  War,  I  hope  I  shall  not  seem  to  de 
scend  from  the  proper  sphere  of  this  discussion,  if  I 
refer  to  the  parade  of  barbarous  mottoes,  and  of  emblems 
from  beasts,  as  another  impediment  to  the  proper  ap 
preciation  of  these  Preparations.  These  mottoes  and 
emblems,  prompting  to  War,  are  obtruded  on  the  very 
ensigns  of  power  and  honor,  and,  careless  of  their  dis 
creditable  import,  men  learn  to  regard  them  with 
patriotic  pride.  In  the  armorial  bearings  of  nations 
and  individuals,  beasts  and  birds  of  prey  are  the  ex 
emplars  of  True  Grandeur.  The  lion  appears  on  the 
flag  of  England;  the  leopard  on  the  flag  of  Scotland; 
a  double-headed  eagle  spreads  its  wings  on  the  imperial 
standard  of  Austria,  and  again  on  that  of  Eussia ;  while 


94  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

a  single-headed  eagle  was  adopted  on  the  Napoleonic 
seal,  and  thus  far  the  same  single-headed  bird  is  enough 
for  Prussia.  The  pennons  of  knights,  after  exhausting 
the  known  kingdom  of  Nature,  were  disfigured  by 
imaginary  and  impossible  monsters,  griffins,  hippogriffs, 
unicorns,  all  intended  to  represent  the  exaggeration  of 
brute  force.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  unconsciously 
adopt  this  early  standard.  The  escutcheon  used  as  the 
seal  of  the  State  has  an  unfortunate  combination,  to 
which  I  refer  briefly  by  way  of  example.  On  that  part 
in  the  language  of  heraldry  termed  the  shield  stands 
an  Indian  with  a  bow  in  his  hand,  —  certainly  no 
agreeable  memento,  except  to  those  who  find  honor  in 
the  disgraceful  wars  where  our  fathers  robbed  and 
murdered  King  Philip  of  Pokanoket,  and  his  tribe, 
rightful  possessors  of  the  soil.  The  crest  is  a  raised 
arm  Iwlding  a  dravm  sabre  in  a  threatening  attitude,  — 
being  precisely  the  emblem  once  borne  on  the  flag  of 
Algiers.  The  scroll,  or  legend,  is  the  latter  of  two 
favorite  verses,  in  modern  Latin,  which  are  not  traced 
to  any  origin  more  remote  than  Algernon  Sidney,  by 
whom  they  were  inscribed  in  an  album  at  Copen 
hagen  :  — 

"  Manns  hsec  inimica  tyrnnnis 
Ense  petit  placidam  tub  llbertate  quietem." l 

1  The  Earl  of  Leicester,  father  of  Sidney,  in  an  anxious  letter,  August  30, 
1660,  writes  his  son  :  "  It  is  said  that  the  University  of  Copenhagen  brought 
their  Album  unto  you,  desiring  you  to  write  something  therein,  and  that  you 
did  scribere  in  Albo  these  words  [setting  forth  the  verses],  and  put  your 
name  to  it";  and  then  he  adds,  "  This  cannot  but  be  publicly  known,  if  it 

be  true Either  you  must  live  in  exile  or  very  privately  here,  and 

perhaps  not  safely."  The  restoration  of  Charles  the  Second  had  just  taken 
place.  (Meadley,  Memoirs  of  Algernon  Sidney,  pp.  84,  823-825.)  Lord 
Molesworth,  in  a  vork  which  first  appeared  in  1694.  mentions  the  verses  as 
written  by  Sidney  in  "  the  Book  of  Mottoo*  in  the  King's  Library,,"  and  then 
tells  the  story,  that  the  French  Ambassador,  who  did  not  know  a  word  of 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  95 

"With,  singular  unanimity,  the  Legislature  of  Massa 
chusetts  has  expressed  an  earnest  desire  for  the  estab 
lishment  of  a  High  Court  of  Nations  to  adjudge  inter 
national  controversies,  and  thus  supersede  the  Arbitra 
ment  of  War.  It  would  be  an  act  of  moral  dignity 
consistent  with  these  professions,  and  becoming  the 
character  it  vaunts  before  the  world,  if  it  abandoned 
the  bellicose  escutcheon,  —  at  least,  that  Algerine  em 
blem,  fit  only  for  corsairs,  if  not  also  the  Latin  motto 
with  its  menace  of  the  sword.  If  a  Latin  substi 
tute  for  the  latter  be  needed,  it  might  be  those  words 
of  Virgil,  "  Pacisque  imponere  morem,"1  or  that  sen 
tence  of  noble  truth  from  Cicero,  "  Sine  SUMMA  JUSTITIA 
rempublicam  geri  nullo  modo  posse  "  : 2  the  first  a  hom 
age  to  Peace,  and  the  second  a  consecration  to  Justice. 
Where  such  a  spirit  prevailed,  there  would  be  little 
occasion  to  consider  the  question  of  War  Prepara 
tions. 

Massachusetts  is  not  alone  in  the  bellicose  anachro 
nism  of  her  banner.  The  nation  is  in  the  same  cate 
gory.  Our  fathers  would  have  hesitated  long  before 
accepting  the  eagle  for  the  national  escutcheon,  had 
they  recalled  the  pungent  words  of  Erasmus  on  this 
most  unrepublican  bird.  "  Let  any  physiognomist,  not 
a  blunderer  in  his  trade,"  says  this  most  learned 
scholar,  "consider  the  look  and  features  of  an  eagle, 
those  rapacious  and  wicked  eyes,  that  menacing  curve  of 
the  beak,  those  cruel  cheeks,  that  stern  front,  —  will  he 

Latin,  on  learning  their  meaning,  tore  them  from  the  book,  as  a  libel  on  the 
French  government,  and  its  influence  in  Denmark.  (Moles worth,  Account 
of  Denmark,  Preface.)  The  inference  from  this  narrative  would  seem  to  be 
that  the  verses  were  by  Sidney  himself. 

1  .Eneid,  VI.  852. 

2  De  Republica,  Lib.  II.  cap.  43. 


96  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

not  at  once  recognize  the  image  of  a  king,  a  magnificent 
and  majestic  king?  Add  to  these  a  dark,  ill-omened 
color,  an  unpleasing,  dreadful,  appalling  voice,  and  that 
threatening  scream  at  which  every  kind  of  animal  trem 
bles."  Proceeding  with  his  indictment,  he  describes 
the  eagle  in  old  age  as  satisfied  with  nothing  but  blood, 
with  which  he  prolongs  his  hateful  life,  the  upper  man 
dible  growing  so  that  he  cannot  feed  on  flesh,  while  the 
natural  rapacity  continues,  —  all  of  which  typifies  the 
wicked  prince.  But  the  scholar  becomes  orator,  when, 
after  mentioning  that  there  are  innumerable  species  of 
birds,  some  admirable  for  richness  of  plumage,  some 
remarkable  for  snowy  whiteness,  some  shining  with 
befitting  blackness,  some  pre-eminent  in  bodily  stature, 
some  notable  for  fecundity,  some  grateful  at  the  rich 
banquet,  some  pleasant  from  loquacity,  some  captivating 
in  song,  some  distinguished  for  courage,  some  created 
for  the  entertainment  of  man,  —  he  proceeds  to  say: 
"  Of  all  birds,  the  eagle  alone  has  seemed  to  wise  men 
the  apt  type  of  royalty :  not  beautiful,  not  musical,  not 
fit  for  food,  —  but  carnivorous,  ravenous,  plundering, 
destroying,  fighting,  solitary,  hateful  to  all,  the  curse 
of  all,  and  though  able  to  do  the  greatest  harm,  yet 
wishing  to  do  more  than  he  can." 1  Erasmus,  who  says 
this  and  much  more,  is  no  mean  authority.  Brightest 
and  best  among  the  scholars  who  illustrated  the  modern 
revival  of  letters,  loving  peace,  and  detesting  kings,  he 
acquired  a  contemporary  power  and  fame  such  as  letters 
never  bestowed  before,  if  since, —  at  least  until  Voltaire, 
kindred  in  versatile  genius,  mounted  the  throne.  In 
all  the  homage  profusely  offered  to  the  latter  there  was 

1  Erasmi  Adagia,  Chil.  III.  Cent  VII.  Prov.  1 :  Scarabceui  aqwlam  qucerit, 
Hallam,  Literature  of  Europe,  Part  I.  cb.  4.  sec.  43,  44. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  97 

nothing  stronger  than  that  of  Luther  to  Erasmus,  when 
the  great  Eeformer  asked,  "  Who  is  the  man  whose  soul 
Erasmus  does  not  occupy,  whom  Erasmus  does  not  in 
struct,  over  whom  Erasmus  does  not  reign  ? "  His  face 
is  still  familiar  from  the  devotion  of  two  great  artists, 
Albert  Diirer  and  Hans  Holbein,  each  of  whom  has  left 
to  us  his  portrait,  —  while  he  is  commemorated  by  a 
bronze  statue  in  Eotterdam,  his  birthplace,  and  by  a 
monument  in  the  ancient  cathedral  at  Basel,  where 
he  died.  It  is  this  renowned  scholar  who  castigates 
our  eagle.  Doubtless  for  fighting  qualities  this  royal 
bird  was  transferred  to  the  coin  and  seal  of  a  Republic. 
His  presence  there  shows  the  spirit  which  unconsciously 
prevailed ;  and  this  same  presence,  beyond  all  question, 
exercises  a  certain  influence,  especially  with  the  young, 
nursing  a  pride  in  that  beak  and  those  pounces  which 
are  the  menace  of  War. 

The  maxim,  In  time  of  Peace  prepare  for  War,1  is 
transmitted  from  distant  ages,  when  brute  force  was 
the  general  law.  It  is  the  terrible  inheritance  which 
painfully  reminds  present  generations  of  their  connec 
tion  with  the  Past.  It  belongs  to  the  dogmas  of  bar 
barism.  It  is  the  companion  of  harsh,  tyrannical  rules 
by  which  the  happiness  of  the  many  is  offered  up  to 
the  few.  It  is  the  child  of  suspicion,  and  the  forerun- 

1  If  countenance  were  needed  in  thus  exposing  a  pernicious  maxim,  I 
might  find  it  in  the  German  philosopher  Kant,  whose  work  on  Perpetual 
Peace  treats  it  with  very  little  respect  (Kant,  Sammtliche  Werke,  Band 
VII.,  Zum  Ewigen  Frieden,  §  1.)  Since  this  Oration,  Sir  Robert  Peel  and 
the  Earl  of  Aberdeen,  each  Prime  Minister  of  England,  and  practically  con 
versant  with  the  question,  have  given  their  valuable  testimony  in  the  same 
direction.  Life  has  its  surprises ;  and  I  confess  one  in  my  own,  when  the 
latter,  in  conversation  on  this  maxim,  most  kindly  thanked  me  for  what  I 
had  said  against  it. 

VOL.    I.  5  O 


98  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

ner  of  violence.  Having  in  its  favor  almost  uninter 
rupted  usage,  it  possesses  a  hold  on  popular  opinion  not 
easily  unloosed.  And  yet  no  conscientious  man  can 
fail,  on  careful  observation,  to  detect  its  mischievous 
fallacy,  —  at  least  among  Christian  nations  in  tlie  present 
age,  —  a  fallacy  the  most  costly  the  world  has  wit 
nessed,  dooming  nations  to  annual  tribute  in  com 
parison  with  which  the  extortions  of  conquest  are  as 
the  widow's  mite.  So  true  is  what  Eousseau  said,  and 
Guizot  has  since  repeated,  that  "  a  bad  principle  is  far 
worse  than  a  bad  fact " ;  for  the  operations  of  the 
latter  are  finite,  while  those  of  the  former  are  infi 
nite. 

I  speak  of  this  principle  with  earnestness  ;  for  I 
believe  it  erroneous  and  false,  founded  in  ignorance 
and  wrong,  unworthy  of  civilization,  and  disgraceful  to 
Christians.  I  call  it  a  principle ;  but  it  is  a  mere  pre 
judice,  —  sustained  by  vulgar  example  only,  and  not  by 
enlightened  truth,  —  obeying  which,  we  imitate  the  early 
mariners,  who,  steering  from  headland  to  headland, 
hugged  the  shore,  unwilling  to  venture  upon  the  broad 
ocean,  with  the  luminaries  of  heaven  for  their  guide. 
If  not  yet  discerned  in  its  true  character,  it  is  because 
the  clear  light  of  truth  is  discolored  and  refracted  by  an 
atmosphere  where  the  cloud  of  War  covers  all. 

Dismissing  the  actual  usage  on  the  one  side,  and  con 
siderations  of  economy  on  the  other,  I  would  regard 
these  Preparations  in  the  simple  light  of  reason,  in  a 
just  appreciation  of  the  nature  of  man,  and  in  the  in 
junctions  of  the  highest  truth.  Our  conclusion  will 
be  very  easy.  They  are  twice  pernicious,  and  whoso 
would  vindicate  them  must  satisfactorily  answer  these 
two  objections :  first,  that  they  inflame  the  people,  ex- 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  99 

citing  to  deeds  of  violence,  otherwise  alien  to  the  mind ; 
and,  secondly,  that,  having  their  origin  in  the  low  motives 
of  distrust  and  hate,  inevitably,  by  a  sure  law  of  the  hu 
man  mind,  they  excite  to  corresponding  action  in  other 
nations.  Thus,  in  fact,  are  they  promoters  of  War, 
rather  than  preservers  of  Peace. 

In  illustration  of  the  first  objection,  it  will  occur  at 
once  to  every  inquirer  that  the  possession  of  power  is 
in  itself  dangerous,  tempting  the  purest  and  highest, 
and  too  rarely  enjoyed  without  abuse.  Nor  is  the 
power  to  employ  force  in  War  an  exception.  Nations 
possessing  the  greatest  armaments  are  the  most  bellige 
rent.  It  is  the  feebler  powers  which  enjoy  eras  of 
Peace.  Throughout  more  than  seven  hundred  years  of 
Eoman  history  resounds  the  din  of  "War,  with  only  two 
short  lulls  of  Peace ;  and  in  modern  times  this  din  has 
been  echoed  from  France.  But  Switzerland  has  had  no 
din.  Less  prepared,  this  Eepublic  had  less  incentive  to 
"War.  Not  only  in  nations  do  we  find  this  law.  It  ap 
plies  to  individuals  also.  The  same  din  which  resounded 
in  Rome  and  was  echoed  from  France  has  filled  common 
life,  and  from  the  same  cause.  The  wearing  of  arms  has 
been  a  provocative,  too  often  exciting,  as  it  furnished  the 
weapon  of  strife.  The  odious  system  of  private  quar 
rels,  with  altercation  and  hostile  meetings  even  in  the 
street,  disgracing  the  social  life  of  modern  Europe,  con 
tinued  with  this  habit.  This  was  its  origin.  But  who 
can  measure  the  extent  of  its  influence  ?  Dead  bodies 
stretched  on  the  pavements,  and  vacant  chairs  at  home, 
were  the  contemporary  witnesses.  If  death  was  hasty 
and  unpremeditated,  it  was  only  according  to  the  law 
of  such  encounter.  Poets  and  authors,  wearing  arms, 
were  exposed  to  the  rude  chances.  The  dramatist  Mar- 


100       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

lowe,  in  some  respects  almost  Shakespearian, "  renowned 
for  his  rare  art  and  wit,"  perished  ignominiously  under 
the  weapon  of  a  vulgar  adversary ;  and  Savage,  whose 
genius  and  misfortune  inspired  the  friendship  and  praise 
of  Samuel  Johnson,  was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey  for 
murder  committed  in  a  sudden  broil.  Nothing  of  this 
could  have  occurred  without  the  habit  of  wearing  arms, 
which  was  a  fashion.  Out  of  this  came  the  Dance  of 
Death. 

This  pernicious  influence  is  illustrated  by  Judge  Jay 
with  admirable  plainness.  He  shows  the  individual  as 
an  example  to  nations.  Listen,  a  moment,  to  what  lie 
says  so  well.  "The  expert  swordsman,  the  practised 
marksman,  is  ever  more  ready  to  engage  in  personal 
combats  than  the  man  who  is  unaccustomed  to  the  use  of 
deadly  weapons.  In  those  portions  of  our  country  where 
it  is  supposed  essential  to  personal  safety  to  go  armed 
with  pistols  and  bowie-knives  mortal  affrays  are  so  fre 
quent  as  to  excite  but  little  attention,  and  to  secure,  with 
exceedingly  rare  exceptions,  perfect  impunity  to  the 
murderer ;  whereas  at  the  North  and  East,  where  we  are 
unprovided  with  such  facilities  for  taking  life,  compara 
tively  few  murders  of  the  kind  are  perpetrated.  We 
might,  indeed,  safely  submit  the  decision  of  the  princi 
ple  we  are  discussing  to  the  calculations  of  pecuniary 
interest.  Let  two  men,  equal  in  age  and  health,  apply 
for  an  insurance  on  their  lives,  —  one  known  to  be  ever 
armed  to  defend  his  honor  and  his  life  against  every 
assailant,  and  the  other  a  meek,  unresisting  Quaker :  can 
we  doubt  for  a  moment  which  of  these  men  would  be 
deemed  by  an  Insurance  Company  most  likely  to  reach 
a  good  old  age  ? " 1 

l  Address  before  the  American  Peace  Society,  pp.  23,  24. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.,  ,  10J, 

With  this  practical  statement  and  its  strong  sej>se  $ 
leave  this  objection  to  War  PreparatiJ&nsj  ^dciing  a:skt- 
gle  supplementary  remark,  —  What  is  good  for  the  in 
dividual  is  good  for  nations. 

The  second  objection,  though  different  in  character,  is 
not  less  operative.  It  is  founded  on  that  law  of  hu 
man  nature  according  to  which  the  very  hate  or  dis 
trust  to  which  these  Preparations  testify  excites  in 
others  a  corresponding  sentiment.  This  law  is  general 
and  fundamental.  Though  rarely  recognized  by  nations 
as  a  rule  of  conduct,  it  was  never  without  its  influence 
on  individuals.  Indeed,  it  is  little  more  than  a  practi 
cal  illustration  of  the  Horatian  adage,  Si  vis  me  flere, 
dolendum  est  primum  ipsi  tibi :  If  you  wish  me  to  weep, 
you  must  yourself  first  grieve.  Nobody  questions  its 
truth  or  applicability.  But  does  it  not  proclaim  that 
War  Preparations  in  a  period  of  professed  Peace  must 
naturally  prompt  adverse  Preparations,  and  everywhere 
within  the  circle  of  their  influence  quicken  the  Spirit 
of  War  ?  So  are  we  all  knit  together  that  the  feelings 
in  our  own  bosoms  awaken  corresponding  feelings  in 
the  bosoms  of  others,  —  as  harp  answers  to  harp  in  its 
softest  vibration,  as  deep  responds  to  deep  in  the  might 
of  its  power.  What  in  us  is  good  invites  the  good  in 
our  brother;  generosity  begets  generosity;  love  wins 
love ;  Peace  secures  Peace ;  —  while  all  in  us  that  is  bad 
challenges  the  bad  in  our  brother;  distrust  engenders 
distrust ;  hate  provokes  hate ;  War  arouses  War.  There 
fore  are  we  admonished  to  avoid  such  appeal,  and  this 
is  the  voice  of  Nature  itself. 

This  beautiful  law  is  everywhere.  The  wretched 
maniac,  in  whose  mind  the  common  principles  of  con 
duct  are  overthrown,  confesses  its  overruling  power; 


102  THE  TBUE   GRANDEUE   OF  NATIONS. 

aud  the  vacant  stare  of  madness  is  illumined  by  a  word 
of -'love:  -The- wild  beasts  confess  it:  and  what  is  the 
story  of  Orpheus,  whose  music  drew  in  listening  rapture 
the  lions  and  panthers  of  the  forest,  or  of  St.  Jerome, 
whose  kindness  soothed  the  lion  to  lie  down  at  his  feet, 
but  expressions  of  its  prevailing  power  ? l 

Even  a  fable  may  testify.  I  would  not  be  tempted 
too  far,  but,  at  the  risk  of  protracting  this  discussion,  I 
cannot  forget  illustrations  which  show  how  poetry  at 
least,  if  not  history,  has  interpreted  the  heart  of  man. 

Looking  back  to  the  historic  dawn,  one  of  the  most 
touching  scenes  illumined  by  that  auroral  light  is  the 
peaceful  visit  of  the  aged  Priam  to  the  tent  of  Achilles, 
entreating  the  body  of  his  son.  The  fierce  combat  end 
ed  in  the  death  of  Hector,  whose  unhonored  corse  the 
bloody  Greek  has  trailed  behind  his  chariot.  After 
twelve  days  of  grief,  the  venerable  father  is  moved  to 
seek  the  remains  of  the  son  he  has  so  dearly  loved. 
He  leaves  his  lofty  cedarn  chamber,  and  with  a  single 
aged  attendant,  unarmed,  repairs  to  the  Grecian  camp 
beside  the  distant  sounding  sea.  Entering  alone,  he 
finds  Achilles  in  his  tent,  with  two  of  his  chiefs.  Grasp 
ing  his  knees,  the  father  kisses  those  terrible  homicidal 
hands  which  had  taken  the  life  of  his  son.  Touched  by 
the  sight  which  he  beholds,  the  heart  of  the  inflamed, 
the  angry,  the  inflexible  Achilles  responds  to  the  feelings 

1  Scholars  will  remember  the  incident  recorded  by  Homer  in  the  Odys 
sey  (XIV.  30,  31),  where  Ulysses,  on  reaching  his  loved  Ithaca,  is  beset  by 
dogs,  described  as  wild  beasts  in  ferocity,  who  rush  towards  him  barking; 
but  he,  with  craft  (that  is  the  word  of  Homer),  seats  himself  upon  the 
ground  and  leit  hit  staff  fall  from  his  hand.  A  similar  incident  is  noticed  by 
Mr.  Mure,  in  his  entertaining  travels  in  Greece ,  and  also  by  Mr.  Borrow,  in 
his  "  Bible  in  Spain."  Pliny  remarks,  that  all  dogs  may  be  appeased  in  the 
same  way:  "Impetus  eorvm  et  sccritia  mitiyatur  ab  homine  considente  humi." 
Nat.  Hist.,  Lib.  VIII.  cap.  40. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  103 

of  Priam.  He  takes  the  suppliant  by  the  hand,  seats 
him  by  his  side,  consoles  his  grief,  refreshes  his  weary 
body,  and  concedes  to  the  prayers  of  a  weak,  unarmed 
old  man  what  all  Troy  in  arms  could  not  win.  In  this 
scene,  which  fills  a  large  space  in  the  Iliad,1  the  master 
poet,  with  unconscious  power,  has  presented  a  picture 
of  the  omnipotence  of  that  law,  making  all  mankind 
of  kin,  in  obedience  to  which  no  word  of  kindness,  no 
act  of  confidence,  falls  idly  to  the  earth. 

Among  the  early  passages  of  Eoman  history,  per 
haps  none  makes  a  deeper  impression  than  that  scene, 
after  the  Roman  youth  were  consumed  at  the  Allia,  and 
the  invading  Gauls  under  Brennus  had  entered  the  city, 
where  in  a  temple  were  seated  the  venerable  Senators 
of  the  Republic,  too  old  to  flee,  and  careless  of  surviv 
ing  the  Roman  name,  each  on  his  curule  chair,  unarmed, 
looking,  as  livy  says,  more  august  than  mortal,  and 
with  the  majesty  of  the  gods.  The  Gauls  gaze  as  upon 
sacred  images;  and  the  hand  of  slaughter,  which  had 
raged  through  the  streets  of  Rome,  is  stayed  by  the 
sight  of  an  unarmed  assembly.  This  continued  until 
one  of  the  invaders  standing  nearest  reached  his  hand 
to  stroke  gently  the  silver  beard  of  a  Senator,  who,  in 
dignant  at  the  license,  smote  the  barbarian  with  his 
ivory  staff,  which  was  the  signal  for  general  vengeance. 
Think  you  that  a  band  of  savages  could  have  slain  these 
Senators,  if  the  appeal  to  Force  had  not  been  made  first 
by  one  of  their  own  number  ?  This  story,  though  re 
counted  by  Livy,  and  also  by  Plutarch,2  is  repudiated 
by  Niebuhr;  but  it  is  none  the  less  interesting  as  a 
legend,  attesting  the  law  by  which  hostile  feelings  are 
aroused  or  subdued. 

1  Book  XXIV.  2  Liv.,  Lib.  V.  cap.  41.    Plutarch,  Life  of  Camillas. 


104  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

This  great  scene,  in  its  essential  parts,  has  been  re 
peated  in  another  age  and  country.  The  theatre  was 
an  African  wilderness,  with  Christian  converts  for  Ro 
man  Senators.  The  little  band,  with  their  pastor,  who 
was  a  local  chief,  assembled  on  a  Sabbath  morning  for 
prayer,  when  suddenly  robbers  came  upon  them,  as  the 
Gauls  upon  Rome,  and  demanded  cattle.  The  pastor, 
asking  his  people  to  sit  still,  calmly  pointed  to  the  cat 
tle,  and  then  turned  back  to  unite  with  the  rest  in 
prayer.  The  robbers,  like  the  Gauls,  looked  on  in 
silence,  awed  into  forbearance,  until  they  quietly  with 
drew,  injuring  nobody  and  touching  nothing.  Such 
an  instance,  which  is  derived  from  the  report  of  mis 
sionaries,1  testifies  again  to  the  might  of  meekness, 
and  proves  that  the  Roman  story,  though  reduced 
to  the  condition  of  a  legend,  is  in  harmony  with  actual 
life. 

An  admired  picture  by  Virgil,  in  his  melodious  epic, 
furnishes  similar  testimony.  The  Trojan  fleet,  beaten 
by  tempest  on  the  raging  waves,  is  about  to  succumb, 
when  the  God  of  the  Sea,  suddenly  appearing  in  tran 
quil  power,  stills  the  hostile  elements,  as  a  man  vener 
able  for  piety  and  deserts  by  a  gentle  word  assuages  a 
furious  populace  just  breaking  into  sedition  and  out 
rage.2  The  sea  and  the  populace  were  equally  appeased. 
Alike  in  the  god  and  the  man  was  the  same  peaceful 
presence.  Elsewhere  is  this  same  influence.  Guizot, 
illustrates  this  same  influence,  when,  describing  the 
development  of  mediaeval  civilization,  he  exhibits  an 
angry  multitude  subdued  by  an  unarmed  man,  em- 

1  Moffht,  Mlwionnry  Lnbors  and  Scene*  In  Southern  Africa,  Ch.  32. 
*  "  Ille  regit  dictis  animos  et  pectora  mulcet" 

.1'.n,i<t,  1.  146  -  164. 


THE  TRUE  GRAXDEUB   OF  NATIONS.  105 

ploying  the  word  instead  of  the  sword.1  And  surely 
no  reader  of  that  noble  historical  romance,  the  Pro- 
messi  Sposi,  can  forget  that  finest  scene,  where  Frk 
Cristoforo,  in  an  age  of  violence,  after  slaying  his 
comrade  in  a  broil,  presents  himself  unarmed  and  peni 
tent  before  the  family  and  retainers  of  his  victim,  and 
by  dignified  gentleness  awakens  the  admiration  of 
men  raging  against  him.  Both  hemispheres  are  at 
this  moment  occupied  with  the  popular  romance,  Le 
Juif  Errant,  by  Eugene  Sue,  where  is  an  interesting 
picture  of  Christian  courage  superior  to  the  trained  vio 
lence  of  the  soldier.  Another  example,  made  familiar 
by  recent  translations  of  Frithiqfs  Saga,  the  Swedish 
epic,2  is  more  emphatic.  The  scene  is  a  battle.  Frithiof 
is  in  deadly  combat  with  Atle",  when  the  falchion  of  the 
latter  breaks.  Throwing  away  his  own  weapon,  Frithiof 
says,  — 

"  Swordlessfoeman's  life 
Ne'er  dyed  this  gallant  blade.11 

The  two  champions  now  close  in  mutual  clutch ;  they 
hug  like  bears,  says  the  poet. 

"  'T  is  o'er  ;  for  Frithiof  s  matchless  strength 

Has  felled  his  ponderous  size, 
And  'neath  that  knee,  a  giant  length, 

Supine  the  Viking  lies. 
4  But  fails  my  sword,  thou  Berserk  swart,' 

The  voice  rang  far  and  wide, 
'  Its  point  should  pierce  thy  inmost  heart, 

Its  hilt  should  drink  the  tide.' 
4  Be  free  to  lift  the  weaponed  hand,' 

Undaunted  Atle"  spoke; 
Hence,  fearless,  quest  thy  distant  brand : 

Thus  I  abide  the  stroke.' " 

Frithiof  regains  his  sword,  intent  to  close  the  dread  de- 

1  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Civilisation  en  France,  Tom.  II.  p.  86. 
8  Longfellow,  Poets  and  Poetry  of  Europe,  p.  161 :  Tegn^r. 
5» 


106       THE  TBUE  GRANDEUB  OF  NATIONS. 

bate,  while  his  adversary  awaits  the  stroke ;  but  his  heart 
responds  to  the  generous  courage  of  his  foe ;  he  cannot 
injure  one  who  has  shown  such  confidence  in  him. 

"  Thit  quelled  hit  ire,  this  checked  hit  arm, 
Outstretched  the  hand  of  peace." 

I  cannot  leave  these  illustrations  without  alluding 
again  to  the  treatment  of  the  insane,  teaching,  by  con 
clusive  example,  how  strong  in  Nature  must  be  the 
responsive  principle.  On  proposing  to  remove  the  heavy 
chains  from  the  raving  maniacs  of  the  Paris  hospitals, 
the  benevolent  Pinel  was  regarded  as  one  who  saw 
visions  or  dreamed  dreams.  At  last  his  wishes  were 
gratified.  The  change  in  the  patients  was  immediate ; 
the  wrinkled  front  of  waning  passion  was  smoothed  into 
the  serene  countenance  of  Peace.  The  treatment  by 
Force  is  now  universally  abandoned ;  the  law  of  kind 
ness  takes  its  place ;  and  these  unfortunates  mingle  to 
gether,  unvexed  by  restraints  implying  suspicion,  and 
therefore  arousing  opposition.  What  an  example  to 
nations,  who  are  little  better  than  insane !  The  an 
cient  hospitals,  with  their  violent  madness,  making  con 
fusion  and  strife,  are  a  dark,  but  feeble,  type  of  the 
Christian  nations,  obliged  to  wear  the  intolerable  chains 
of  War,  assimilating  the  world  to  one  great  madhouse ; 
while  the  peace  and  good-will  now  abounding  in  these 
retreats  are  the  happy  emblems  of  what  awaits  man 
kind  when  at  last  we  practically  recognize  the  suprem 
acy  of  those  higher  sentiments  which  are  at  once  a 
strength  and  a  charm,  — 

"  making  their  future  might 
Magnetic  o'er  the  fixed,  untrembling  heart." 

I  might  dwell  also  on  recent  experience,  so  full  of 
delightful  wisdom,  in  the  treatment  of  the  distant,  de- 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  107 

graded  convict  of  New  South  Wales,  showing  how  con 
fidence  and  kindness  on  the  part  of  overseers  awaken  a 
corresponding  sentiment  even  in  outcasts,  from  whose 
souls  virtue  seems  blotted  out. 

Thus,  from  all  quarters  and  sources  —  the  far-off 
Past,  the  far-away  Pacific,  the  verse  of  the  poet,  the 
legend  of  history,  the  cell  of  the  mad-house,  the  con 
gregation  of  transported  criminals,  the  experience  of 
daily  life,  the  universal  heart  of  man  —  ascends  spon 
taneous  tribute  to  that  law  according  to  which  we 
respond  to  the  sentiments  by  which  we  are  addressed, 
whether  of  love  or  hate,  of  confidence  or  distrust. 

If  it  be  urged  that  these  instances  are  exceptional, 
I  reply  at  once,  that  it  is  not  so.  They  are  indubitable 
evidence  of  the  real  man,  revealing  the  divinity  of 
Humanity,  out  of  which  goodness,  happiness,  true  great 
ness  can  alone  proceed.  They  disclose  susceptibilities 
confined  to  no  particular  race,  no  special  period  of  time, 
no  narrow  circle  of  knowledge  or  refinement,  but  pres 
ent  wherever  two  or  more  human  beings  come  together, 
and  strong  in  proportion  to  their  virtue  and  intelli 
gence.  Therefore  on  the  nature  of  man,  as  impregnable 
ground,  do  I  place  the  fallacy  of  this  most  costly  and 
pernicious  prejudice. 

Nor  is  Human  Nature  the  only  witness  :  Christianity 
testifies  in  familiar  texts,  and  then  again  by  holiest  lips. 
Augustine,  in  one  of  his  persuasive  letters,  protests, 
with  proverbial  heart  of  flame,  against  turning  Peace 
into  a  Preparation  for  War,  and  then  tells  the  soldier 
whom  he  addresses  to  be  pacific  even  in  war.1  From 

1 "  Non  enira  pax  quseritur  nt  bellum  excitetur.  ....  Esto  ergo  etiam  bel- 
lando  pacificus."  —  Augustini  Epistola  CCV.,  ad  Bonifacium  Comitem: 
Opera,  Tom.  II.  p.  318. 


108  THE  TEUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

the  religion  of  his  Master  the  great  Christian  saint  had 
learned  that  Love  is  more  puissant  than  Force.  To  the 
reflecting  mind,  the  Omnipotence  of  God  himself  is 
less  discernible  in  earthquake  and  storm  than  in  the 
gentle,  but  quickening,  rays  of  the  sun,  and  the  sweet 
descending  dews.  He  is  a  careless  observer  who  does 
not  recognize  the  superiority  of  gentleness  and  kindness 
in  exercising  influence  or  securing  rights  among  men. 
As  the  storms  of  violence  beat  upon  us,  we  hug  man 
tles  gladly  thrown  aside  under  the  warmth  of  a  genial 
sun. 

Christianity  not  only  teaches  the  superiority  of  Love 
to  Force,  it  positively  enjoins  the  practice  of  the  for 
mer,  as  a  constant,  primal  duty.  It  says,  "  Love  your 
neighbors " ;  but  it  does  not  say,  "  In  time  of  Peace 
rear  the  massive  fortification,  build  the  man-of-war,  en 
list  standing  armies,  train  militia,  and  accumulate  mili 
tary  stores,  to  overawe  and  menace  your  neighbor." 
It  directs  that  we  should  do  to  others  as  we  would 
have  them  do  to  us,  —  a  golden  rule  for  all ;  but  how 
inconsistent  is  that  distrust  in  obedience  to  which 
nations  professing  peace  sleep  like  soldiers  on  their 
arms  !  Nor  is  this  all.  Its  precepts  inculcate  patience, 
forbearance,  forgiveness  of  evil,  even  the  duty  of  benefit 
ing  a  destroyer,  "  as  the  sandal- wood,  in  the  instant 
of  its  overthrow,  sheds  perfume  on  the  axe  which  fells 
it."  Can  a  people  in  whom  this  faith  is  more  than  an 
idle  word  authorize  such  enormous  sacrifices  to  pamper 
the  Spirit  of  War  ?  Thus  far  nations  have  drawn  their 
weapons  from  earthly  armories,  unmindful  that  there 
are  others  of  celestial  temper. 

The  injunction,  "  Love  one  another,"  is  as  applicable 
to  nations  as  to  individuals.  It  is  one  of  the  great  laws 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF   NATIONS.  109 

of  Heaven.  And  nations,  like  individuals,  may  well 
measure  their  nearness  to  God  and  to  his  glory  by  the 
conformity  of  their  conduct  to  this  duty. 

In  response  to  arguments  founded  on  economy,  the 
true  nature  of  man,  and  Christianity,  I  hear  the  skepti 
cal  note  of  some  advocate  of  the  transmitted  order  of 
things,  some  one  among  the  "  fire-worshippers  "  of  War, 
saying,  All  this  is  beautiful,  but  visionary  ;  it  is  in  ad 
vance  of  the  age,  which  is  not  yet  prepared  for  the  great 
change.  To  such  I  answer  :  Nothing  can  be  beautiful 
that  is  not  true ;  but  all  this  is  true,  and  the  time  has 
come  for  its  acceptance.  Now  is  the  dawning  day,  and 
now  the  fitting  hour. 

The  name  of  Washington  is  invoked  as  authority  for 
a  prejudice  which  Economy,  Human  Nature,  and  Chris 
tianity  repudiate.  Mighty  and  reverend  as  is  his  name, 
more  mighty  and  more  reverend  is  Truth.  The  words 
of  counsel  which  he  gave  were  in  accordance  with  the 
spirit  of  his  age,  —  which  was  not  shocked  by  the 
slave-trade.  But  his  great  soul,  which  loved  virtue 
and  inculcated  justice  and  benevolence,  frowns  upon 
those  who  would  use  his  authority  as  an  incentive 
to  War.  God  forbid  that  his  sacred  character  should 
be  profanely  stretched,  like  the  skin  of  John  Ziska,  on 
a  militia-drum,  to  arouse  the  martial  ardor  of  the  Ameri 
can  people  1 

The  practice  of  Washington,  during  the  eight  years 
of  his  administration,  compared  with  that  of  the  last 
eight  years  for  which  we  have  the  returns,  may  explain 
his  real  opinions.  His  condemnation  of  the  present 
wasteful  system  speaks  to  us  from  the  following  table.1 

1  Executive  Document  No.  15,  Twenty-eighth  Congress,  First  Session. 


110 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 


Yew. 

Military 
Establishment. 

•Mri 

Establishment. 

1789-91 

$835,618 

$570 

1792 

1,223,594 

53! 

1793 

1,237,620 

1794 

2,733,539 

61,409 

1795 

2,573,059 

410,562 

1796 

1,474,672 

274.784 

Totel,  daring  eight 
years  of  Washington, 

|     9  10,078,102 

$747,378 

1835 

$9,420,313 

$3,864,939 

1836 

19,667,166 

5,807,718 

1837 

20,702,929 

6,646,915 

1838 

20,557,473 

6,131,581 

1839 

14,588,664 

6,182,294 

1840 

12,030,624 

6,113,897 

1841 

13,704,882 

6,001,077 

1842 

9,188,469 

8,397,243 

Total,  during  eight 
recent  yean, 

|   $119,860,520 

$49,145,664 

Thus  the  expenditures  for  the  national  armaments  un 
der  the  sanction  of  Washington  were  less  than  eleven 
million  dollars,  while  during  a  recent  similar  period  of 
eight  years  they  amounted  to  upwards  of  one  hundred 
and  sixty-nine  millions, — an  increase  of  nearly  fifteen 
hundred  per  cent  !  To  him  who  quotes  the  precept  of 
Washington  I  commend  the  example.  He  must  be 
strongly  possessed  by  the  martial  mania  who  will  not 
confess,  that,  in  this  age,  when  the  whole  world  is  at 
peace,  and  our  national  power  is  assured,  there  is  less 
need  of  these  Preparations  than  in  an  age  convulsed 
with  War,  when  our  national  power  was  little  respected. 
The  only  semblance  of  argument  in  their  favor  is  the 
increased  wealth  of  the  country ;  but  the  capacity  to 
endure  taxation  is  no  criterion  of  its  justice,  or  even  of 
its  expediency. 

Another  fallacy  is  also  invoked,  that  whatever  is  is 
right.    A  barbarous  practice  is  elevated  above  all  those 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  HI 

authorities  by  which  these  Preparations  are  condemned. 
"We  are  made  to  count  principles  as  nothing,  because 
not  yet  recognized  by  nations.  But  they  are  practically 
applied  in  the  relations  of  individuals,  towns,  counties, 
and  states  in  our  Union.  All  these  have  disarmed.  It 
remains  only  that  they  should  be  extended  to  the 
grander  sphere  of  nations.  Be  it  our  duty  to  proclaim 
the  principles,  whatever  the  practice.  Through  us  let 
Truth  speak. 

From  the  past  and  the  present  auspicious  omens 
cheer  us  for  the  future.  The  terrible  wars  of  the 
French  Revolution  were  the  violent  rending  of  the 
body  preceding  the  exorcism  of  the  fiend.  Since  the 
morning  stars  first  sang  together,  the  world  has  not  wit 
nessed  a  peace  so  harmonious  and  enduring  as  that 
which  now  blesses  the  Christian  nations.  Great  ques 
tions,  fraught  with  strife,  and  in  another  age  heralds 
of  War,  are  now  determined  by  Mediation  or  Arbitra 
tion.  Great  political  movements,  which  a  few  short 
years  ago  must  have  led  to  bloody  encounter,  are  now 
conducted  by  peaceful  discussion.  Literature,  the  press, 
and  innumerable  societies,  all  join  in  the  work  of  incul 
cating  good-will  to  man.  The  Spirit  of  Humanity  per 
vades  the  best  writings,  whether  the  elevated  philo 
sophical  inquiries  of  the  "  Vestiges  of  the  Creation,"  the 
ingenious,  but  melancholy,  moralizings  of  the  "  Story  of 
a  Feather,"  or  the  overflowing  raillery  of  "  Punch."  Nor 
can  the  breathing  thought  and  burning  word  of  poet  or 
orator  have  a  higher  inspiration.  Genius  is  never  so 
Promethean  as  when  it  bears  the  heavenly  fire  to  the 
hearths  of  men. 

In  the  last  age,  Dr.  Johnson  uttered  the  detestable 


112  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

sentiment,  that  he  liked  "  a  good  Hater."  The  man  of 
this  age  will  say  that  lie  likes  "  a  good  Lover."  Thus 
reversing  the  objects  of  regard,  he  follows  a  higher  wis 
dom  and  a  purer  religion  than  the  renowned  moralist 
knew.  He  recognizes  that  peculiar  Heaven-born  senti 
ment,  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  soon  to  become  the  de 
cisive  touchstone  of  human  institutions.  He  confesses 
the  power  of  Love,  destined  to  enter  more  and  more 
into  the  concerns  of  life.  And  as  Love  is  more  heaven 
ly  than  Hate,  so  must  its  influence  redound  more  to  the 
true  glory  of  man  and  the  approval  of  God.  A  Chris 
tian  poet  —  whose  few  verses  bear  him  with  unflagging 
wing  in  immortal  flight  —  has  joined  this  sentiment 
with  Prayer.  Thus  he  speaks,  in  words  of  uncommon 
pathos  and  power  :  — 

"  He  prayeth  well  who  loveth  well 
Both  man  and  bird  and  beast 

"  He  prayeth  best  who  loveth  best 
All  things,  both  great  and  small ; 
For  the  dear  God  who  loveth  us, 
He  made  and  loveth  all."  1 

The  ancient  Law  of  Hate  is  yielding  to  the  Law  of 
Love.  It  is  seen  in  manifold  labors  of  philanthropy 
and  in  missions  of  charity.  It  is  seen  in  institutions 
for  the  insane,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  the  dumb,  the  poor, 
the  outcast,  —  in  generous  efforts  to  relieve  those  who 
are  in  prison,  —  in  public  schools,  opening  the  gates  of 
knowledge  to  all  the  children  of  the  land.  It  is  seen  in 
the  diffusive  amenities  of  social  life,  and  in  the  increas 
ing  fellowship  of  nations  ;  also  in  the  rising  opposition 
to  Slavery  and  to  "War. 

There  are  yet  other  special  auguries  of  this  great 

1  Coleridge,  Rime  of  the  Ancient  Mariner,  Part  VII. 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  113 

change,  auspicating,  in  the  natural  progress  of  man,  the 
abandonment  of  all  international  Preparations  for  War. 
To  these  I  allude  briefly,  but  with  a  deep  conviction  of 
their  significance. 

Look  at  the  Past,  and  see  how  War  itself  is  changed, 
so  that  its  oldest  "  fire-worshipper  "  would  hardly  know 
it.  At  first  nothing  but  savagery,  with  disgusting  rites, 
whether  in  the  North  American  Indian  with  Powhatan 
as  chief,  or  the  earlier  Assyrian  with  Nebuchadnezzar  as 
king,  but  yielding  gradually  to  the  influence  of  civiliza 
tion.  With  the  Greeks  it  was  less  savage,  but  always 
barbarous,  —  also  with  Eome  always  barbarous.  Too 
slowly  Christianity  exerted  a  humanizing  power.  Ra 
belais  relates  how  the  friar  Jean  des  Entommeures 
clubbed  twelve  thousand  and  more  enemies,  "without 
mentioning  women  and  children,  which  is  understood 
always."  But  this  was  War,  as  seen  by  that  great  ge 
nius  in  his  day.  This  can  be  no  longer.  Women  and 
children  are  safe  now.  The  divine  metamorphosis  has 
begun. 

Look  again  at  the  Past,  and  observe  the  change  in 
dress.  Down  to  a  period  quite  recent  the  sword  was  the 
indispensable  companion  of  the  gentleman,  wherever  he 
appeared,  whether  in  street  or  society  ;  but  he  would  be> 
deemed  madman  or  bully  who  should  wear  it  now.  At 
an  earlier  period  the  armor  of  complete  steel  was  the 
habiliment  of  the  knight.  From  the  picturesque  sketch 
by  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  the  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel," 
we  learn  the  barbarous  constraint  of  this  custom. 

"  Ten  of  thorn  were  sheathed  in  steel, 
With  belted  sword,  and  spur  on  heel; 
They  quitted  not  their  harness  bright, 
Neither  by  day  nor  yet  by  night: 


114       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

They  lay  down  to  rest 

With  corslet  laced, 
Pillowed  on  buckler  cold  and  hard ; 

They  carved  at  the  meal 

With  gloves  of  steel, 
And  they  drank  the  red  wine  through  the  helmet  barred." 

But  all  this  is  changed  now. 

Observe  the  change  in  architecture  and  in  domestic 
life.  Places  once  chosen  for  castles  or  houses  were 
savage,  inaccessible  retreats,  where  the  massive  struc 
ture  was  reared  to  repel  attack  and  to  enclose  its  in 
habitants.  Even  monasteries  and  churches  were  forti 
fied,  and  girdled  by  towers,  ramparts,  and  ditches, — 
while  a  child  was  stationed  as  watchman,  to  observe- 
what  passed  at  a  distance,  and  announce  the  approach  of 
an  enemy.  Homes  of  peaceful  citizens  in  towns  were  cas 
tellated,  often  without  so  much  as  an  aperture  for  light 
near  the  ground,  but  with  loopholes  through  which  the 
shafts  of  the  crossbow  were  aimed.  The  colored  plates 
now  so  common,  from  mediaeval  illustrations,  especially 
of  Froissart,  exhibit  these  belligerent  armaments,  always 
so  burdensome.  From  a  letter  of  Margaret  Paston,  in 
the  time  of  Henry  the  Sixth,  of  England,  I  draw  sup 
plementary  testimony.  Addressing  in  dutiful  phrase 
her  "  right  worshipful  husband,"  she  asks  him  to  pro 
cure  for  her  "  some  crossbows,  and  wyndacs  [grappling- 
irons]  to  bind  them  with,  and  quarrels  [arrows  with 
square  heads],"  also  "two  or  three  short  pole-axes  to 
keep  writhin  doors";  and  she  tells  her  absent  lord  of 
apparent  preparations  by  a  neighbor,  — "  great  ord 
nance  within  the  house,"  "  bars  to  bar  the  door  cross 
wise,"  and  "  wickets  on  every  quarter  of  the  house  to 
shoot  out  at,  both  with  bows  and  with  hand-guns."1 

l  Pa«ton  Letters,  CXIII.  (LXXVII.  Vol.  III.  p.  316.) 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUK   OF  NATIONS.  115 

Savages  could  hardly  live  in  greater  distrust.     Let  now 
the  Poet  of  Chivalry  describe  another  scene :  — 

"  Ten  squires,  ten  yeomen,  mail-clad  men, 
Waited  the  beck  of  the  warders  ten; 
Thirty  steeds,  both  fleet  and  wight, 
Stood  saddled  in  stable  day  and  night,  • 

Barbed  with  frontlet  of  steel,  I  trow, 
And  with  Jed  wood  axe  at  saddle-bow; 
A  hundred  more  fed  free  in  stall : 
Such  was  the  custom  of  Branksome  Hall." 

This  also  is  all  changed  now. 

The  principles  causing  this  change  are  not  only  ac 
tive  still,  but  increasing  in  activity ;  nor  can  they  be 
confined  to  individuals.  Nations  must  soon  declare 
them,  and,  abandoning  martial  habiliments  and  forti 
fications,  enter  upon  peaceful,  unarmed  life.  "With 
shame  let  it  be  said,  that  they  continue  to  live  in  the 
very  relations  of  distrust  towards  neighbors  which 
shock  us  in  the  knights  of  Branksome  Hall,  and  in  the 
house  of  Margaret  Paston.  They  pillow  themselves  on 
"buckler  cold  and  hard,"  while  their  highest  anxiety 
and  largest  expenditure  are  for  the  accumulation  of  new 
munitions  of  War.  The  barbarism  which  individuals 
have  renounced  nations  still  cherish.  So  doing,  they  take 
counsel  of  the  wild-boar  in  the  fable,  who  whetted  his 
tusks  on  a  tree  of  the  forest  when  no  enemy  was  near, 
saying,  that  in  time  of  Peace  he  must  prepare  for  War. 
Has  not  the  time  come,  when  man,  whom  God  created 
in  his  own  image,  and  to  whom  he  gave  the  Heaven- 
directed  countenance,  shall  cease  to  look  down  to  the 
beast  for  an  example  of  conduct  ?  Nay,  let  me  not 
dishonor  the  beasts  by  the  comparison.  The  superior 
animals,  at  least,  prey  not,  like  men,  upon  their  own 
species.  The  kingly  lion  turns  from  his  brother  lion ; 


116  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

the  ferocious  tiger  will  not  raven  upon  his  kindred 
tiger ;  the  wild-boar  of  the  forest  does  not  glut  his 
sharpened  tusks  upon  a  kindred  boar. 

"  Sed  jam  serpentnm  major  concordia :  parcit 
Cognatis  maculis  similis  fern:  quando  leoni 
Fortior  eripuit  vitam  leo?  quo  nemore  unquam 
Exspiravit  npcr  majoris  dentibus  apri  ? 
Indica  tigris  agit  rabida  cum  tigridcpacem 
Perpetuam."  1 

To  an  early  monarch  of  France  just  homage  has  been 
offered  for  effort  in  the  cause  of  Peace,  particularly  in 
abolishing  the  Trial  by  Battle.  To  another  monarch  of 
France,  in  our  own  day,  descendant  of  St.  Louis,  and 
lover  of  Peace  worthy  of  the  illustrious  lineage,  Louis 
Philippe,  belongs  the  honest  fame  of  first  from  the 
throne  publishing  the  truth  that  Peace  is  endangered 
by  Preparations  for  War.  "  The  sentiment,  or  rather 
the  principle,"  he  says,  in  reply  to  an  address  from  the 
London  Peace  Convention  in  1843,  "that  in  Peace  you 
must  prepare  for  War,  is  one  of  difficulty  and  danger ; 
for  while  we  keep  armies  on  land  to  preserve  peace,  they 
are  at  the  same  time  incentives  and  instruments  of  war. 
He  rejoiced  in  all  efforts  to  preserve  peace,  for  that  was 
what  all  needed.  He  thought  the  time  was  coming  when 
we  should  get  rid  entirely  of  war  in  all  civilized  coun 
tries."  This  time  has  been  hailed  by  a  generous  voice 
from  the  Army  itself,  by  a  Marshal  of  France,  —  Bu- 
geaud,  the  Governor  of  Algiers,  —  who,  at  a  public  dinner 
in  Paris,  gave  as  a  toast  these  words  of  salutation  to  a 
new  and  approaching  era  of  happiness  :  "  To  the  pacific 
union  of  the  great  human  family,  by  the  association  of 
individuals,  nations,  and  races  !  To  the  annihilation  of 
War !  To  the  transformation  of  destructive  armies  into 

»  Juvenal,  Sat.  XV.  159-164. 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.       117 

corps  of  industrious  laborers,  who  will  consecrate  their 
lives  to  the  cultivation  and  embellishment  of  the 
world!"  Be  it  our  duty  to  speed  this  consummation! 
And  may  other  soldiers  emulate  the  pacific  aspiration 
of  this  veteran  chief,  until  the  trade  of  War  ceases  from 
the  earth ! l 

To  William  Penn  belongs  the  distinction,  destined  to 
brighten  as  men  advance  in  virtue,  of  first  in  human 
history  establishing  the  Law  of  Love  as  a  rule  of  conduct 
in  the  intercourse  of  nations.  While  recognizing  the 
duty  "  to  support  power  in  reverence  with  the  people, 
and  to  secure  the  people  from  the  abuse  of  power,"  2  as  a 
great  end  of  government,  he  declined  the  superfluous 
protection  of  arms  against  foreign  force,  and  aimed  to 
"  reduce  the  savage  nations  by  just  and  gentle  manners 
to  the  love  of  civil  society  and  the  Christian  religion." 
His  serene  countenance,  as  he  stands  with  his  followers 
in  what  he  called  the  sweet  and  clear  air  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  all  unarmed,  beneath  the  spreading  elm,  forming 
the  great  treaty  of  friendship  with  the  untutored  Indi 
ans,  —  whose  savage  display  fills  the  surrounding  forest 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  —  not  to  wrest  their  lands 
by  violence,  but  to  obtain  them  by  peaceful  purchase, 
—  is  to  my  mind  the  proudest  picture  in  the  history  of 

1  There  was  a  moment   when   the   aspiration  of  the   French  marshal 
seemed  fulfilled  even  in  France,  if  we  may  credit  the  early  Madame  de 
Lafayette,  who,  in  the  first  sentence  of  her  Memoirs,  announces  perfect 
tranquillity,  where  "  no  other  arms  were  known  than  instruments  for  the 
cultivation  of  the  earth  and  for  building,  and  the  troops  were  employed  on 
these  things."     Part  of  their  work  was  to  divert  the  waters  of  the  Eure,  so 
that  the  fountains  at  Versailles  should  have  a  perpetual  supply  :  hut  this 
was  better  than  War.  —  MADAME  DE  LAFAYETTE,  Memoiret  de  la  Oour  de 
France  pour  let  Anncei  1688  et  1689,  p.  1. 

2  Preface  to  Penn's   Frame  of  Government  of  the  Province  of  Penn 
sylvania:  Hazard's  Register  of  Pennsylvania.  Vol.  I.  p.  338.    See  also  Clark- 
son's  Memoirs  of  Penn,  Vol.  I.  p.  238,  Philadelphia,  1814. 


118  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

our  country.  "The  great  God,"  said  the  illustrious 
Quaker,  in  words  of  sincerity  and  truth  addressed  to 
the  Sachems,  "  hath  written  his  law  in  our  hearts,  by 
which  we  are  taught  and  commanded  to  love  and  help 
and  do  good  to  one  another.  It  is  not  our  custom  to 
use  hostile  weapons  against  our  fellow-creatures,  for 
which  reason  we  come  unarmed.  Our  object  is  not  to 
do  injury,  but  to  do  good.  We  are  now  met  on  the 
broad  pathway  of  good  faith  and  good  will,  so  that  no 
advantage  is  to  be  taken  on  either  side,  but  all  is  to  be 
openness,  brotherhood,  and  love,  while  all  are  to  be 
treated  as  of  the  same  flesh  and  blood." 1  These  are 
words  of  True  Greatness.  "  Without  any  carnal  weapons," 
says  one  of  his  companions,  "  we  entered  the  land,  and 
inhabited  therein,  as  safe  as  if  there  had  been  thousands 
of  garrisons."  What  a  sublime  attestation !  "  This 
little  State,"  says  Oldmixon,  "subsisted  in  the  midst 
of  six  Indian  nations  without  so  much  as  a  militia 
for  its  defence."  A  great  man  worthy  of  the  mantle  of 
Penn,  the  venerable  philanthropist,  Clarkson,  in  his  life 
of  the  founder,  pictures  the  people  of  Pennsylvania  as 
armed,  though  without  arms,  —  strong,  though  without 
strength,  —  safe,  without  the  ordinary  means  of  safety. 
According  to  him,  the  constable's  staff  was  the  only  in 
strument  of  authority  for  the  greater  part  of  a  cen 
tury  ;  and  never,  during  the  administration  of  Penn,  or 
that  of  his  proper  successors,  was  there  a  quarrel  or  a 
war.2 

Greater  than  the  divinity  that  doth  hedge  a  king  is 
the  divinity  that  encompasses  the  righteous  man  and 
the  righteous  people.  The  flowers  of  prosperity  smiled 

1  Clarkson'i  Memoirs  of  Penn,  Vol.  L  Ch.  18. 
»  Ibid.,  Vol.  IL  Ch.  23. 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.       119 

in  the  footprints  of  William  Penn.  His  people  were 
unmolested  and  happy,  while  (sad,  but  true  contrast ! ) 
other  colonies,  acting  upon  the  policy  of  the  world, 
building  forts,  and  showing  themselves  in  arms,  were 
harassed  by  perpetual  alarm,  and  pierced  by  the  sharp 
arrows  of  savage  war. 

This  pattern  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  never  fails 
to  arrest  the  admiration  of  all  who  contemplate  its 
beauties.  It  drew  an  epigram  of  eulogy  from  the  caus-  ' 
tic  pen  of  Voltaire,  and  has  been  fondly  painted  by  sym 
pathetic  historians.  Every  ingenuous  soul  in  our  day 
offers  willing  tribute  to  those  graces  of  justice  and  hu 
manity,  by  the  side  of  which  contemporary  life  on  this 
continent  seems  coarse  and  earthy. 

Not  to  barren  words  can  we  confine  ourselves  in  recog 
nition  of  virtue.  While  we  see  the  right,  and  approve  it 
too,  we  must  dare  to  pursue  it.  Now,  in  this  age  of  civ 
ilization,  surrounded  by  Christian  nations,  it  is  easy  to 
follow  the  successful  example  of  William  Penn  encom 
passed  by  savages.  Eecognizing  those  two  transcend 
ent  ordinances  of  God,  the  Law  of  Right  and  the  Law 
of  Love,  —  twin  suns  which  illumine  the  moral  universe, 
—  why  not  aspire  to  the  true  glory,  and,  what  is  higher 
than  glory,  the  great  good,  of  taking  the  lead  in  the  dis 
arming  of  the  nations  ?  Let  us  abandon  the  system  of 
Preparations  for  War  in  time  of  Peace,  as  irrational,  un 
christian,  vainly  prodigal  of  expense,  and  having  a  direct 
tendency  to  excite  the  evil  against  which  it  professes  to 
guard.  Let  the  enormous  means  thus  released  from 
iron  hands  be  devoted  to  labors  of  beneficence.  Our 
battlements  shall  be  schools,  hospitals,  colleges,  and 
churches;  our  arsenals  shall  be  libraries  ;  our  navy  shall 
be  peaceful  ships,  on  errands  of  perpetual  commerce ; 


120       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

our  army  shall  be  the  teachers  of  youth  and  the  minis 
ters  of  religion.  This  is  the  cheap  defence  of  nations. 
In  such  intrenchments  what  Christian  soul  can  be 
touched  with  fear  ?  Angels  of  the  Lord  will  throw 
over  the  knd  an  invisible,  but  impenetrable  panoply :  — 

"  Or  if  Virtue  feeble  were, 
Heaven  itself  would  stoop  to  her."  1 

At  the  thought  of  such  a  change,  the  imagination 
loses  itself  in  vain  effort  to  follow  the  multitudinous 
streams  of  happiness  which  gush  forth  from  a  thou 
sand  hills.  Then  shall  the  naked  be  clothed  and  the 
hungry  fed;  institutions  of  science  and  learning  shall 
crown  every  hill-top ;  hospitals  for  the  sick,  and  other 
retreats  for  the  unfortunate  children  of  the  world,  for 
all  who  suffer  in  any  way,  in  mind,  body,  or  estate, 
shall  nestle  in  every  valley;  while  the  spires  of  new 
churches  leap  exulting  to  the  skies.  The  whole  land 
shall  testify  to  the  change.  Art  shall  confess  it  in  the 
new  inspiration  of  the  canvas  and  the  marble.  The 

1  These  are  the  concluding  words  of  that  most  exquisite  creation  of  early 
genius,  the  "  Comus."  Beyond  their  intrinsic  value,  they  have  authority  from 
the  circumstance  that  they  were  adopted  by  Milton  as  a  motto,  and  inscribed 
by  him  in  an  album  at  Geneva,  while  on  his  foreign  travels.  This  album  is 
now  in  my  hands.  The  truth  thus  embalmed  by  the  grandest  poet  of  mod 
ern  times  is  also  illustrated  in  familiar  words  by  the  most  graceful  poet  of 
antiquity:  — 

"  Integer  vitse  scelerisqne  pnrus 
Non  eget  Mauris  jaculis,  neque  area, 
Nee  venenatis  gravida  sagittis, 

Fusee,  pharetra." 

HOB.,  Carm.  I.  xxii.  1-4. 

Dryden  pictures  the  same  in  some  of  his  most  magical  lines:  — 

"  A  milk-white  hind,  immortal  and  unchanged, 
Fed  on  the  lawns,  and  in  the  forest  ranged ; 
Without  unspotted,  innocent  within, 
She/eared  no  danger,  for  the  knew  no  tin." 

The  Hind  and  the  Panther,  Part  1.1-4. 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUK  OF  NATIONS.       121 

harp  of  the  poet  shall  proclaim  it  in  a  loftier  rhyme. 
Above  all,  the  heart  of  man  shall  bear  witness  to  it,  in 
the  elevation  of  his  sentiments,  in  the  expansion  of  his 
affections,  in  his  devotion  to  the  highest  truth,  in  his 
appreciation  of  true  greatness.  The  eagle  of  our  coun 
try,  without  the  terror  of  his  beak,  and  dropping  the 
forceful  thunderbolt  from  his  pounces,  shall  soar,  with 
the  olive  of  Peace,  into  untried  realms  of  ether,  nearer 
to  the  sun. 

I  pause  to  review  the  field  over  which  we  have 
passed.  We  have  beheld  War,  sanctioned  by  Inter 
national  Law  as  a  mode  of  determining  justice  between 
nations,  elevated  into  an  established  custom,  defined  and 
guarded  by  a  complex  code  known  as  the  Laws  of  War ; 
we  have  detected  its  origin  in  an  appeal,  not  to  the 
moral  and  intellectual  part  of  man's  nature,  in  which 
alone  is  Justice,  but  to  that  low  part  which  he  has  in 
common  with  the  beast ;  we  have  contemplated  its  in 
finite  miseries  to  the  human  race ;  we  have  weighed  its 
sufficiency  as  a  mode  of  determining  justice  between 
nations,  and  found  that  it  is  a  rude  invocation  to  force, 
or  a  gigantic  game  of  chance,  in  which  God's  children 
are  profanely  treated  as  a  pack  of  cards,  while,  in  un 
natural  wickedness,  it  is  justly  likened  to  the  monstrous 
and  impious  custom  of  Trial  by  Battle,  which  disgraced 
the  Dark  Ages,  —  thus  showing,  that,  in  this  day  of 
boastful  civilization,  justice  between  nations  is  deter 
mined  by  the  same  rules  of  barbarous,  brutal  violence 
which  once  controlled  the  relations  between  individuals. 
We  have  next  considered  the  various  prejudices  by 
which  War  is  sustained,  founded  on  a  false  belief  in  its 
necessity,  —  the  practice  of  nations,  past  and  present,  — 

VOL.   I.  6 


122  THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

the  infidelity  of  the  Christian  Church,  —  a  mistaken 
sentiment  of  honor,  —  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  duties 
of  patriotism,  —  and  finally,  that  monster  prejudice 
which  draws  its  vampire  life  from  the  vast  Prepara 
tions  for  War  in  time  of  Peace ;  —  especially  dwelling, 
at  this  stage,  upon  the  thriftless,  irrational,  and  un 
christian  character  of  these  Preparations,  —  hailing  also 
the  auguries  of  their  overthrow,  —  and  catching  a  vision 
of  the  surpassing  good  that  will  be  achieved,  when  the 
boundless  means  thus  barbarously  employed  are  dedi 
cated  to  works  of  Peace,  opening  the  serene  path  to 
that  righteousness  which  exalteth  a  nation. 

And  now,  if  it  be  asked  why,  in  considering  the  TRUE 
GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS,  I  dwell  thus  singly  and  exclu 
sively  on  War,  it  is  because  War  is  utterly  and  irrecon 
cilably  inconsistent  with  True  Greatness.  Thus  far,  man 
has  worshipped  in  Military  Glory  a  phantom  idol,  com 
pared  with  which  the  colossal  images  of  ancient  Baby 
lon  or  modern  Hindostan  are  but  toys ;  and  we,  in  this 
favored  land  of  freedom,  in  this  blessed  day  of  light, 
are  among  the  idolaters.  The  Heaven-descended  in 
junction,  Know  thyself,  still  speaks  to  an  unheeding 
world  from  the  far-off  letters  of  gold  at  Delphi :  Knmo 
thyself;  know  that  the  moral  is  the  noblest  part  of  man, 
transcending  far  that  which  is  the  seat  of  passion,  strife, 
and  War,  —  nobler  than. the  intellect  itself.  And  the 
human  heart,  in  its  untutored,  spontaneous  homage 
to  the  virtues  of  Peace,  declares  the  same  truth,  — 
admonishing  the  military  idolater  that  it  is  not  the 
bloody  combats,  even  of  bravest  chiefs,  even  of  gods 
themselves,  as  they  echo  from  the  resounding  lines  of 
the  great  Poet  of  War,  which  receive  the  warmest  ad- 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.  123 

miration,  but  those  two  scenes  where  are  painted  the 
gentle,  unwarlike  affections  of  our  nature,  the  Parting 
of  Hector  from  Andromache,  and  the  Supplication  of 
Priam.  In  the  definitive  election  of  these  peaceful 
pictures,  the  soul  of  man,  inspired  by  a  better  wisdom 
than  that  of  books,  and  drawn  unconsciously  by  the 
heavenly  attraction  of  what  is  truly  great,  acknowl 
edges,  in  touching  instances,  the  vanity  of  Military 
Glory.  The  Beatitudes  of  Christ,  which  shrink  from 
saying,  "Blessed  are  the  War-makers,"  inculcate  the 
same  lesson.  Eeason  affirms  and  repeats  what  the 
heart  has  prompted  and  Christianity  proclaimed.  Sup 
pose  War  decided  by  Force,  where  is  the  glory  ?  Sup 
pose  it  decided  by  Chance,  where  is  the  glory  ?  Surely, 
in  other  ways  True  Greatness  lies.  Nor  is  it  difficult 
to  tell  where. 

True  Greatness  consists  in  imitating,  as  nearly  as  pos 
sible  for  finite  man,  the  perfections  of  an  Infinite  Crea 
tor,  —  above  all,  in  cultivating  those  highest  perfections, 
Justice  and  Love :  Justice,  which,  like  that  of  St.  Louis, 
does  not  swerve  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left ;  Love, 
which,  like  that  of  William  Penn,  regards  all  mankind 
as  of  kin.  "  God  is  angry,"  says  Plato,  "  when  any  one 
censures  a  man  like  Himself,  or  praises  a  man  of  an 
opposite  character:  and  the  godlike  man  is  the  good 
man."1  Again,  in  another  of  those  lovely  dialogues 
precious  with  immortal  truth :  "  Nothing  resembles  God 
more  than  that  man  among  us  who  has  attained  to  the 
highest  degree  of  justice." 2  The  True  Greatness  of 
Nations  is  in  those  qualities  which  constitute  the  true 
greatness  of  the  individual.  It  is  not  in  extent  of  ter 
ritory,  or  vastness  of  population,  or  accumulation  of 

1  Minos,  §  12.  2  Theaetetus,  §  86. 


124       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

wealth,  —  not  in  fortifications,  or  armies,  or  navies,  — 
not  in  the  sulphurous  blaze  of  battle,  —  not  in  Golgothas, 
though  covered  by  monuments  that  kiss  the  clouds ; 
for  all  these  are  creatures  and  representatives  of  those 
qualities  in  our  nature  which  are  unlike  anything  in 
God's  nature.  Nor  is  it  in  triumphs  of  the  intellect 
alone,  —  in  literature,  learning,  science,  or  art.  The 
polished  Greeks,  our  masters  in  the  delights  of  art,  and 
the  commanding  Romans,  overawing  the  earth  with 
their  power,  were  little  more  than  splendid  savages. 
And  the  age  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  of  France,  span 
ning  so  long  a  period  of  ordinary  worldly  magnificence, 
thronged  by  marshals  bending  under  military  laurels, 
enlivened  by  the  unsurpassed  comedy  of  Moliere,  dig 
nified  by  the  tragic  genius  of  Corneille,  illumined  by 
the  splendors  of  Bossuet,  is  degraded  by  immoralities 
that  cannot  be  mentioned  without  a  blush,  by  a  heart- 
lessness  in  comparison  with  which  the  ice  of  Nova 
Zembla  is  warm,  and  by  a  succession  of  deeds  of  in 
justice  not  to  be  washed  out  by  the  tears  of  all  the  re 
cording  angels  of  Heaven. 

The  True  Greatness  of  a  Nation  cannot  be  in  tri 
umphs  of  the  intellect  alone.  Literature  and  art  may 
enlarge  the  sphere  of  its  influence ;  they  may  adorn 
it ;  but  in  their  nature  they  are  but  accessaries.  The 
True  Grandeur  of  Humanity  is  in  moral  elevation,  sus 
tained,  enlightened,  and  decorated  by  the  intellect  of 
man.  The  surest  tokens  of  this  grandeur  in  a  na 
tion  are  that  Christian  Beneficence  which  diffuses  the 
greatest  happiness  among  all,  and  that  passionless, 
godlike  Justice  which  controls  the  relations  of  the 
nation  to  other  nations,  and  to  all  the  people  committed 
to  its  charge. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  125 

But  War  crushes  with  bloody  heel  all  beneficence,  all 
happiness,  all  justice,  all  that  is  godlike  in  man,  —  sus 
pending  every  commandment  of  the  Decalogue,  setting 
at  naught  every  principle  of  the  Gospel,  and  silencing 
all  law,  human  as  well  as  divine,  except  only  that  im 
pious  code  of  its  own,  the  Laws  of  War.  If  in  its  dis 
mal  annals  there  is  any  cheerful  passage,  be  assured  it 
is  not  inspired  by  a  martial  Fury.  Let  it  not  be  for 
gotten,  let  it  be  ever  borne  in  mind,  as  you  ponder  this 
theme,  that  the  virtues  which  shed  their  charm  over  its 
horrors  are  all  borrowed  of  Peace,  —  that  they  are 
emanations  from  the  Spirit  of  Love,  which  is  so  strong 
in  the  heart  of  man  that  it  survives  the  rudest  assault. 
The  flowers  of  gentleness,  kindliness,  fidelity,  humani 
ty,  which  flourish  unregarded  in  the  rich  meadows  of 
Peace,  receive  unwonted  admiration  when  we  discern 
them  in  "War,  —  like  violets  shedding  their  perfume  on 
the  perilous  edge  of  the  precipice,  beyond  the  smiling 
borders  of  civilization.  God  be  praised  for  all  the  ex 
amples  of  magnanimous  virtue  which  he  has  vouch 
safed  to  mankind  !  God  be  praised,  that  the  Roman 
Emperor,  about  to  start  on  a  distant  expedition  of  War, 
encompassed  by  squadrons  of  cavalry,  and  by  golden 
eagles  swaying  in  the  wind,  stooped  from  his  saddle  to 
hear  the  prayer  of  a  humble  widow,  demanding  justice 
for  the  death  of  her  son ! l  God  be  praised,  that  Sid 
ney,  on  the  field  of  battle,  gave  with  dying  hand  the  cup 
of  cold  water  to  the  dying  soldier  !  That  single  act  of 

1  According  to  the  legends  of  the  Catholic  Church,  this  most  admired  in 
stance  of  justice  opened  to  Trajan,  although  a  heathen,  the  gates  of  salva 
tion.  Dante  found  the  scene  and  the  "  visible  speech  "  of  the  widow  and 
Emperor  storied  on  the  walls  of  Purgatory,  and  has  transmitted  them  in  a 
passage  which  commends  itself  hardly  less  than  any  in  the  divine  poem.  — 
See  Purffaiorio,  Canto  X. 


126       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

self-forgetful  sacrifice  has  consecrated  the  deadly  field 
of  Zutphen,  far,  oh,  far  beyond  its  battle  ;  it  has  conse 
crated  thy  name,  gallant  Sidney,  beyond  any  feat  of  thy 
sword,  beyond  any  triumph  of  thy  pen  !  But  there  are 
lowly  suppliants  in  other  places  than  the  camp  ;  there 
are  hands  outstretched  elsewhere  than  on  fields  of  blood. 
Everywhere  is  opportunity  for  deeds  of  like  charity. 
Know  well  that  these  are  not  the  product  of  War. 
They  do  not  spring  from  enmity,  hatred,  and  strife,  but 
from  those  benign  sentiments  whose  natural  and  ripened 
fruit  of  joy  and  blessing  are  found  only  in  Peace.  If  at 
any  time  they  appear  in  the  soldier,  it  is  less  because 
than  notwithstanding  he  is  the  hireling  of  battle.  Let 
me  not  be  told,  then,  of  the  virtues  of  War.  Let  not 
the  acts  of  generosity  and  sacrifice  sometimes  blossom 
ing  on  its  fields  be  invoked  in  its  defence,  From  such 
a  giant  root  of  bitterness,  no  true  good  can  spring.  The 
poisonous  tree,  in  Oriental  imagery,  though  watered 
by  nectar  and  covered  with  roses,  produces  only  the 
fruit  of  death. 

Casting  our  eyes  over  the  history  of  nations,  with 
horror  we  discern  the  succession  of  murderous  slaugh 
ters  by  which  their  progress  is  marked.  Even  as  the 
hunter  follows  the  wild  beast  to  his  lair  by  the  drops 
of  blood  on  the  ground,  so  we  follow  Man,  faint,  weary, 
staggering  with  wounds,  through  the  Black  Forest  of 
the  Past,  which  he  has  reddened  with  his  gore.  Oh,  let 
it  not  be  in  the  future  ages  as  in  those  we  now  contem 
plate  !  Let  the  grandeur  of  man  be  discerned,  not  in 
bloody  victory  or  ravenous  conquest,  but  in  the  bless 
ings  he  has  secured,  in  the  good  he  has  accomplished, 
in  the  triumphs  of  Justice  and  Beneficence,  in  the 
establishment  of  Perpetual  Peace  1 


THE  TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  127 

As  ocean  washes  every  shore,  and  with  all-em 
bracing  arms  clasps  every  land,  while  on  its  heaving 
bosom  it  bears  the  products  of  various  climes,  so  Peace 
surrounds,  protects,  and  upholds  all  other  blessings. 
Without  it,  commerce  is  vain,  the  ardor  of  industry  is 
restrained,  justice  is  arrested,  happiness  is  blasted,  vir 
tue  sickens  and  dies. 

Peace,  too,  has  its  own  peculiar  victories,  in  compari 
son  with  which  Marathon  and  Bannockburn  and  Bunker 
Hill,  fields  sacred  in  the  history  of  human  freedom,  lose 
their  lustre.  Our  own  Washington  rises  to  a  truly 
heavenly  stature,  not  when  we  follow  him  through  the 
ice  of  the  Delaware  to  the  capture  of  Trenton,  not  when 
we  behold  him  victorious  over  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown, 
but  when  we  regard  him,  in  noble  deference  to  Justice, 
refusing  the  kingly  crown  which  a  faithless  soldiery 
proffered,  and  at  a  later  day  upholding  the  peaceful 
neutrality  of  the  country,  while  he  met  unmoved  the 
clamor  of  the  people  wickedly  crying  for  War.  What 
glory  of  battle  in  England's  annals  will  not  fade  by  the 
side  of  that  great  act  of  justice,  when  her  Parliament,  at 
a  cost  of  one  hundred  million  dollars,  gave  freedom  to 
eight  hundred  thousand  slaves  ?  And  when  the  day 
shall  come  (may  these  eyes  be  gladdened  by  its  beams  ! ) 
that  shall  witness  an  act  of  larger  justice  still,  —  the 
peaceful  emancipation  of  three  million  fellow-men 
"  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  as  our  own,"  now,  in  this 
land  of  jubilant  freedom,  bound  in  gloomy  bondage,  — 
then  will  there  be  a  victory  by  the  side  of  which  that 
of  Bunker  Hill  will  be  as  the  farthing  candle  held 
up  to  the  sun.  That  victory  will  need  no  monument 
of  stone.  It  will  be  written  on  the  grateful  hearts  of 
countless  multitudes  that  shall  proclaim  it  to  the 


128       THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS. 

latest  generation.  It  will  be  one  of  the  famed  land 
marks  of  civilization,  —  or,  better  still,  a  link  in  the 
golden  chain  by  which  Humanity  connects  itself  with 
the  throne  of  God. 

As  man  is  higher  than  the  beasts  of  the  field,  as  the 
angels  are  higher  than  man,  as  Christ  is  higher  than 
Mars,  as  he  that  ruleth  his  spirit  is  higher  than  he  that 
taketh  a  city,  —  so  are  the  victories  of  Peace  higher  than 
the  victories  of  War. 

Far  be  from  us,  fellow-citizens,  on  this  festival,  the 
pride  of  national  victory,  and  the  illusion  of  national 
freedom,  in  which  we  are  too  prone  to  indulge  !  None 
of  you  make  rude  boast  of  individual  prosperity  or 
prowess.  And  here  I  end  as  I  began.  Our  country 
cannot  do  what  an  individual  cannot  do.  Therefore  it 
must  not  vaunt  or  be  puffed  up.  Eather  bend  to  un 
performed  duties.  Independence  is  not  all.  We  have 
but  half  done,  when  we  have  made  ourselves  free.  The 
scornful  taunt  wrung  from  bitter  experience  of  the  great 
Eevolution  in  France  must  not  be  levelled  at  us :  "  They 
wish  to  be  free,,  but  know  not  how  to  be  just."  1  Nor 
is  priceless  Freedom  an  end  in  itself,  but  rather  the 
means  of  Justice  and  Beneficence,  where  alone  is  endur 
ing  concord,  with  that  attendant  happiness  which  is  the 
final  end  and  aim  of  Nations,  as  of  every  human  heart. 
It  is  not  enough  to  be  free.  There  must  be  Peace  which 
cannot  fail,  and  other  nations  must  share  the  great 
possession.  To  this  end  must  we  labor,  bearing  ever 
in  mind  two  special  objects,  complements  of  eacli 
other :  first,  the  Arbitrament  of  War  must  end ;  and, 

l  "  lit  veulenl  etre  libret,  et  ne  taveni  pat  etre  jiutet,"  was  the  famous  ex 
clamation  of  Siey&s. 


THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR  OF  NATIONS.       129 

secondly,  Disarmament  must  begin.  With  this  ending 
and  this  beginning  the  great  gates  of  the  Future  will  be 
opened,  and  the  guardian  virtues  will  assert  a  new 
empire.  Alas  !  until  this  is  done,  National  Honor  and 
National  Glory  will  yet  longer  flaunt  in  blood,  and  there 
can  be  no  True  Grandeur  of  Nations. 

To  this  great  work  let  me  summon  you.  That  Fu 
ture,  which  filled  the  lofty  vision  of  sages  and  bards  in 
Greece  and  Rome,  which  was  foretold  by  Prophets  and 
heralded  by  Evangelists,  when  man,  in  Happy  Isles,  or 
in  a  new  Paradise,  shall  confess  the  loveliness  of  Peace, 
may  you  secure,  if  not  for  yourselves,  at  least  for  your 
children !  Believe  that  you  can  do  it,  and  you  can  do  it. 
The  true  Golden  Age  is  before,  not  behind.  If  man  has 
once  been  driven  from  Paradise,  while  an  angel  with 
flaming  sword  forbade  his  return,  there  is  another  Para 
dise,  even  on  earth,  which  he  may  make  for  himself, 
by  the  cultivation  of  knowledge,  religion,  and  the  kindly 
virtues  of  life,  —  where  the  confusion  of  tongues  shall 
be  dissolved  in  the  union  of  hearts,  and  joyous  Nature, 
borrowing  prolific  charms  from  prevailing  Harmony, 
shall  spread  her  lap  with  unimagined  bounty,  and 
there  shall  be  perpetual  jocund  Spring,  and  sweet  strains 
borne  on  "  the  odoriferous  wing  of  gentle  gales,"  through 
valleys  of  delight  more  pleasant  than  the  Vale  of  Tempe, 
richer  than  the  Garden  of  the  Hesperides,  with  no  dragon 
to  guard  its  golden  fruit. 

Is  it  said  that  the  age  does  not  demand  this  work  ? 
The  robber  conqueror  of  the  Past,  from  fiery  sepulchre, 
demands  it ;  the  precious  blood  of  millions  unjustly 
shed  in  War,  crying  from  the  ground,  demands  it ;  the 
heart  of  the  good  man  demands  it;  the  conscience, 
even  of  the  soldier,  whispers,  "Peace!"  There  are 

6*  I 


130       THE  TBUE  GRANDEUB  OF  NATIONS. 

considerations  springing  from  our  situation  and  con 
dition  which  fervently  invite  us  to  take  the  lead. 
Here  should  join  the  patriotic  ardor  of  the  land,  the 
ambition  of  the  statesman,  the  effort  of  the  scholar,  the 
pervasive  influence  of  the  press,  the  mild  persuasion  of 
the  sanctuary,  the  early  teaching  of  the  school.  Here, 
in  ampler  ether  and  diviner  air,  are  untried  fields 
for  exalted  triumph,  more  truly  worthy  the  American 
name  than  any  snatched  from  rivers  of  blood.  War 
is  known  as  the  Last  Reason  of  Kings.  Let  it  be  no 
reason  of  our  Republic.  Let  us  renounce  and  throw 
off  forever  the  yoke  of  a  tyranny  most  oppressive 
of  all  in  the  world's  annals.  As  those  standing  on 
the  mountain-top  first  discern  the  coming  beams  of 
morning,  so  may  we,  from  the  vantage-ground  of  lib 
eral  institutions,  first  recognize  the  ascending  sun  of 
a  new  era !  lift  high  the  gates,  and  let  the  King 
of  Glory  in,  —  the  King  of  True  Glory,  —  of  Peace  ! 
I  catch  the  last  words  of  music  from  the  lips  of  in 
nocence  and  beauty,1  — 

"  And  let  the  whole  earth  be  filled  with  His  Glory! " 

It  is  a  beautiful  picture  in  Grecian  story,  that  there 
was  at  least  one  spot,  the  small  island  of  Delos,  dedi 
cated  to  the  gods,  and  kept  at  all  times  sacred  from 
War.  No  hostile  foot  ever  pressed  this  kindly  soil, 
and  citizens  of  all  countries  met  here,  in  common 
worship,  beneath  the  aegis  of  inviolable  Peace.  So  let 
us  dedicate  our  beloved  country ;  and  may  the  blessed 
consecration  be  felt  in  all  its  parts,  everywhere  through 
out  its  ample  domain !  The  Temple  of  Honor  shall 

l  The  services  of  the  choir  on  this  occasion  were  performed  by  the  youth 
ful  daughters  of  the  public  schools  of  Boston. 


THE   TRUE   GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS.  131 

be  enclosed  by  the  Temple  of  Concord,  that  it  may 
never  more  be  entered  through  any  portal  of  War; 
the  horn  of  Abundance  shall  overflow  at  its  gates ; 
the  angel  of  Eeligion  shall  be  the  guide  over  its  steps 
of  flashing  adamant ;  while  within  its  happy  courts, 
purged  of  Violence  and  "Wrong,  JUSTICE,  returned  to 
the  earth  from  long  exile  in  the  skies,  with  equal 
scales  for  nations  as  for  men,  shall  rear  her  serene 
and  majestic  front ;  and  by  her  side,  greatest  of  all, 
CHARITY,  sublime  in  meekness,  hoping  all  and  en 
during  all,  shall  divinely  temper  every  righteous 
decree,  and  with  words  of  infinite  cheer  inspire 
to  those  deeds  that  cannot  vanish  away.  And  the 
future  chief  of  the  Eepublic,  destined  to  uphold  the 
glories  of  a  new  era,  unspotted  by  human  blood, 
shall  be  first  in  Peace,  first  in  the  hearts  of  his  coun 
trymen. 

While  seeking  these  fruitful  glories  for  ourselves,  let 
us  strive  for  their  extension  to  other  lands.  Let  the 
bugles  sound  the  Truce  of  God  to  the  whole  world  for 
ever.  Not  to  one  people,  but  to  every  people,  let  the 
glad  tidings  go.  The  selfish  boast  of  the  Spartan  women, 
that  they  never  saw  the  smoke  of  an  enemy's  camp, 
must  become  the  universal  chorus  of  mankind,  while 
the  iron  belt  of  War,  now  encompassing  the  globe,  is 
exchanged  for  the  golden  cestus  of  Peace,  clothing  all 
with  celestial  beauty.  History  dwells  with  fondness  on 
the  reverent  homage  bestowed  by  massacring  soldiers 
upon  the  spot  occupied  by  the  sepulchre  of  the  Lord. 
Vain  man!  why  confine  regard  to  a  few  feet  of  sa 
cred  mould  ?  The  whole  earth  is  the  sepulchre  of  the 
Lord;  nor  can  any  righteous  man  profane  any  part 
thereof.  Confessing  this  truth,  let  us  now,  on  this  Sab- 


132  THE  TRUE  GRANDEUR   OF  NATIONS. 

bath  of  the  Nation,  lay  a  new  and  living  stone  in  the 
grand  Temple  of  Universal  Peace,  whose  dome  shall  be 
lofty  as  the  firmament  of  heaven,  broad  and  compre 
hensive  as  earth  itself. 


TRIBUTE    OF    FRIENDSHIP: 
THE   LATE  JOSEPH   STORY. 

ARTICLE  FROM  THE  BOSTON  DAILY  ADVERTISER,  SEPTEMBER  1C,  1843. 


I  HAVE  just  returned  from  the  funeral  of  this  great 
and  good  man.  Under  that  roof  where  I  have  so 
often  seen  him  in  health,  buoyant  with  life,  exuberant  in 
kindness,  happy  in  family  and  friends,  I  stood  by  his 
mortal  remains  sunk  in  eternal  rest,  and  gazed  upon  those 
well-loved  features  from  which  even  the  icy  touch  of 
death  had  not  effaced  all  the  living  beauty.  The  eye  was 
quenched,  and  the  glow  of  life  extinguished;  but  the 
noble  brow  seemed  still  to  shelter,  as  under  a  marble 
dome,  the  spirit  that  had  fled.  And  is  he  dead,  I  asked 
myself,  —  whose  face  was  never  turned  to  me,  except  in 
affection,  —  who  has  filled  the  civilized  world  with  his 
name,  and  drawn  to  his  country  the  homage  of  foreign 
nations,  —  who  was  of  activity  and  labor  that  knew  no 
rest,  —  who  was  connected  with  so  many  circles  by 
duties  of  such  various  kinds,  by  official  ties,  by  sym 
pathy,  by  friendship  and  love, —  who,  according  to  the 
beautiful  expression  of  Wilberforce,  "  touched  life  at  so 
many  points," -  — has  he,  indeed,  passed  away?  Upon 
the  .  small  plate  on  the  coffin  was  inscribed,  JOSEPH 
STOBY,  died  September  Wth,  1845,  aged  66  years. 
These  few  words  might  apply  to  the  lowly  citizen,  as  to 


134  TRIBUTE   TO   THE  LATE  JOSEPH   STORY. 

the  illustrious  Judge.  Thus  is  the  coffin-plate  a  register 
of  the  equality  of  men. 

At  his  well-known  house  we  joined  in  religious  wor 
ship.  The  Kev.  Dr.  Walker,  present  head  of  the  Uni 
versity,  in  earnest  prayer,  commended  his  soul  to  God 
who  gave  it,  and  invoked  upon  family  and  friends  a 
consecration  of  their  afflictive  bereavement.  From  this 
service  we  followed,  in  mournful  procession,  to  the  rest 
ing-place  which  he  had  selected  for  himself  and  his 
family,  amidst  the  beautiful  groves  of  Mount  Auburn. 
As  the  procession  filed  into  the  cemetery  I  was  moved 
by  the  sight  of  the  numerous  pupils  of  the  Law  School, 
with  uncovered  heads  and  countenances  of  sorrow, 
ranged  on  each  side  of  the  road  within  the  gate,  testify 
ing  by  silent  and  unexpected  homage  their  last  rever 
ence  to  their  departed  teacher.  Around  the  grave,  as 
he  was  laid  in  the  embrace  of  the  mother  earth,  were 
gathered  all  in  our  community  most  distinguished  in 
law,  learning,  literature,  station,  —  Judges  of  our  Courts, 
Professors  of  the  University,  surviving  classmates,  and 
a  thick  cluster  of  friends.  He  was  placed  among  the 
children  taken  from  him  in  early  life.  Of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  Jieaven  were  the  words  he  had  inscribed 
over  their  names  on  the  simple  marble  which  now  com 
memorates  alike  the  children  and  their  father.  Nor  is 
there  a  child  in  heaven  of  more  childlike  innocence  and 
purity  tli  an  he,  who,  full  of  years  and  honors,  has  gone 
to  mingle  with  these  children. 

There  is  another  sentence,  inscribed  by  him  on  this 
family  stone,  which  speaks  to  us  now  with  a  voice  of 
consolation.  Sorrow  not  as  those  witlwut  hope  were 
the  words  which  brought  solace  to  him  in  his  bereave 
ments.  From  his  bed  beneath  he  seems  to  whisper  thus 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      135 

among  his  mourning  family  and  friends,  —  most  espe 
cially  to  her,  the  chosen  partner  of  his  life,  from  whom 
so  much  of  human  comfort  is  apparently  removed.  He 
is  indeed  gone ;  but  we  shall  see  him  once  more  forever. 
With  this  blessed  trust,  we  may  find  happiness  in 
dwelling  upon  his  virtues  and  fame  on  earth,  till  the 
great  consoler,  Time,  shall  come  with  healing  in  his  wings. 

From  the  grave  of  the  Judge  I  walked  a  few  short 
steps  to  that  of  his  classmate  and  friend,  the  beloved 
Channing,  who  died  less  than  three  years  ago,  aged 
sixty-two.  Thus  these  companions  in  early  studies  — 
each  afterwards  foremost  in  important  duties,  pursuing 
divergent  paths,  yet  always  drawn  towards  each  other 
by  the  attractions  of  mutual  friendship  —  again  meet 
and  lie  down  together  in  the  same  sweet  earth,  in  the 
shadow  of  kindred  trees,  through  which  the  same  birds 
sing  a  perpetual  requiem. 

The  afternoon  was  of  unusual  brilliancy,  and  the  full- 
orbed  sun  gilded  with  mellow  light  the  funereal  stones 
through  which  I  wound  my  way,  as  I  sought  the  grave 
of  another  friend,  the  first  colleague  of  the  departed 
Judge  in  the  duties  of  the  Law  School,  —  Professor 
Ashmun.  After  a  life  crowded  with  usefulness,  he  laid 
down  the  burden  of  disease  which  he  had  long  borne, 
at  the  early  age  of  thirty-three.  I  remember  listening, 
in  1833,  to  the  flowing  discourse  which  Story  pro 
nounced,  in  the  College  Chapel,  over  the  departed ;  nor 
can  I  forget  his  deep  emotion,  as  we  stood  together  at 
the  foot  of  the  grave,  while  the  earth  fell,  dust  to  dust, 
upon  the  coffin  of  his  friend. 

Wandering  through  this  silent  city  of  the  dead,  I 
called  to  mind  those  words  of  Beaumont  on  the  Tombs 
in  Westminster  Abbey :  — 


136  TRIBUTE  TO   THE  LATE  JOSEPH  8TOEY. 

"  Here  'a  an  acre  sown  indeed 
With  the  richest,  royal'st  seed 
That  the  earth  did  e'er  suck  in 
Since  the  first  man  died  for  sin ; 
Here  are  sands,  ignoble  things 
Dropt  from  the  ruined  sides  of  kings." 

A  richer  royalty  is  sown  at  Mount  Auburn.  The  kings 
that  slumber  there  were  anointed  by  more  than  earth 
ly  hand. 

Turning  again  to  the  newest  grave,  I  found  no  one 
but  the  humble  gardeners,  smoothing  the  sod  over  the 
fresh  earth.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  the  upper 
branches  of  the  stately  trees  that  wave  over  the  sacred 
spot,  after  glistening  for  a  while  in  the  golden  rays  of 
the  setting  sun,  were  left  in  the  gloom  which  had  already 
settled  on  the  grass  beneath.  Hurrying  away,  I  reached 
the  gate  as  the  porter's  curfew  was  tolling  to  forgetful 
musers  like  myself  the  warning  to  leave. 

Moving  away  from  the  consecrated  field,  I  thought 
of  the  pilgrims  that  would  come  from  afar,  through 
successions  of  generations,  to  look  upon  the  last  home 
of  the  great  Jurist.  From  all  parts  of  our  own  coun 
try,  from  all  the  lands  where  law  is  taught  as  a  science, 
and  where  justice  prevails,  they  will  come  to  seek  the 
grave  of  their  master.  Let  us  guard,  then,  this  precious 
dust.  Let  us  be  happy,  that,  though  his  works  and  his 
example  belong  to  the  world,  his  remains  are  placed  in 
our  peculiar  care.  To  us,  also,  who  saw  him  face  to 
face,  in  the  performance  of  his  various  duties,  and  who 
sustain  a  loss  so  irreparable,  is  the  melancholy  pleasure 
of  dwelling  with  household  affection  upon  his  surpass 
ing  excellences. 

His  death  makes  a  chasm  which  I  shrink  from  con 
templating.  He  was  the  senior  Judge  of  the  highest 
Court  of  the  country,  an  active  Professor  of  Law,  and 


TEIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      137 

a  Fellow  in  the  Corporation  of  Harvard  University. 
He  was  in  himself  a  whole  triumvirate ;  and  these  three 
distinguished  posts,  now  vacant,  will  be  filled,  in  all 
probability,  each  by  a  distinct  successor.  It  is,  how 
ever,  as  the  Jurist  that  he  is  to  take  his  place  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  world,  high  in  the  same  firmament  where 
beam  the  mild  glories  of  Tribonian,  Cujas,  Hale,  and 
Mansfield.  It  was  his  fortune,  unlike  that  of  many 
cultivating  the  law  with  signal  success  on  the  European 
continent,  to  be  called  as  a  judge  practically  to  adminis 
ter  and  apply  it  in  the  business  of  life.  It  thus  became 
to  him  not  merely  a  science,  whose  depths  and  intrica 
cies  he  explored  in  his  closet,  but  a  great  and  godlike 
instrument,  to  be  employed  in  that  grandest  of  earth 
ly  functions,  the  determination  of  justice  among  men. 
While  the  duties  of  the  magistrate  were  thus  illumined 
by  the  studies  of  the  jurist,  the  latter  were  tempered 
to  a  finer  edge  by  the  experience  of  the  bench. 

In  the  attempt  to  estimate  his  character  as  a  Jurist, 
he  may  be  regarded  in  three  different  aspects,  —  as 
Judge,  Author,  and  Teacher  of  Jurisprudence,  exercis 
ing  in  each  a  peculiar  influence.  His  lot  is  rare  who 
achieves  fame  in  any  single  department  of  human  ac 
tion  ;  rarer  still  is  his  who  becomes  foremost  in  many. 
The  first  impression  is  of  astonishment,  that  a  single 
mind,  in  a  single  life,  should  accomplish  so  much. 
Omitting  the  incalculable  labors,  of  which  there  is  no 
trace,  except  in  the  knowledge,  happiness,  and  justice 
they  helped  to  secure,  the  bare  amount  of  his  written 
and  printed  works  is  enormous  beyond  precedent  in  the 
annals  of  the  Common  Law.  His  written  judgments 
on  his  circuit,  and  his  various  commentaries,  occupy 
twenty-seven  volumes,  while  his  judgments  in  the  Su- 


138     TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

preme  Court  of  the  United  States  form  an  important 
part  of  no  less  than  thirty-four  volumes  more.  The 
vast  professional  labors  of  Coke  and  Eldon,  which  seem 
to  clothe  the  walls  of  our  libraries,  must  yield  to  his  in 
extent.  He  is  the  Lope  de  Vega,  or  the  Walter  Scott, 
of  the  Common  Law. 

We  are  struck  next  by  the  universality  of  his  juridical 
attainments.  It  was  said  by  Dryden  of  a  great  lawyer 
in  English  history,  —  Heneage  Finch,  — 

"  Oar  laws,  that  did  a  boundless  ocean  seem, 
Were  coasted  all  and  fathomed  all  by  him." 

But  the  boundless  ocean  of  that  age  was  a  "  closed  sea," 
compared  with  that  on  which  the  adventurer  embarks 
to-day.  In  Howell's  Familiar  Letters  there  is  a  saying 
of  only  a  few  short  years  before,  that  the  books  of  the 
Common  Law  might  all  be  carried  in  a  wheelbarrow. 
To  coast  such  an  ocean  were  a  less  task  than  a  moiety 
of  his  labors  whom  we  now  mourn.  Called  to  admin 
ister  all  the  different  branches  of  law,  kept  separate  in 
England,  he  showed  a  mastery  of  all.  His  was  Univer 
sal  Empire  ;  and  wherever  he  set  his  foot,  in  the  various 
realms  of  jurisprudence,  it  was  as  a  sovereign,  —  whether 
in  the  ancient  and  subtile  learning  of  Real  Law,  —  the 
Criminal  Law,  —  the  niceties  of  Special  Pleading,  —  the 
more  refined  doctrines  of  Contracts,  —  the  more  rational 
system  of  Commercial  and  Maritime  Law,  —  the  peculiar 
and  interesting  principles  and  practice  of  Admiralty  and 
Prize,  —  the  immense  range  of  Chancery,  —  the  modem, 
but  important,  jurisdiction  over  Patents, — or  that  high 
er  region,  the  great  themes  of  Public  and  Constitutional 
Law.  In  each  of  these  branches  there  are  judgments 
by  him  which  will  not  yield  in  value  to  those  of  any 
other  judge  in  England  or  the  United  States,  even  though 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      139 

his  studies  and  duties  may  have  been  directed  to  only 
one  particular  department. 

His  judgments  are  remarkable  for  exhaustive  treat 
ment.  The  Common  Law,  as  every  student  knows  to  his 
cost,  is  found  only  in  innumerable  "  sand-grains  "  of  au 
thority.  In  his  learned  expositions  not  one  of  these  is 
overlooked,  while  all  are  combined  with  care,  and  the 
golden  cord  of  reason  is  woven  across  the  ample  tissue. 
There  is  in  them,  besides,  a  clearness  which  flings  over 
the  subject  a  perfect  day,  —  a  severe  logic,  which,  by  its 
closeness  and  precision,  makes  us  feel  the  truth  of  the 
saying  of  Leibnitz,  that  nothing  approaches  so  near  the 
certainty  of  geometry  as  the  reasoning  of  the  law,  — 
a  careful  attention  to  the  discussions  at  the  bar,  that 
nothing  should  be  lost,  —  with  a  copious  and  persuasive 
eloquence  investing  the  whole.  Many  of  his  judgments 
will  be  landmarks  in  the  law :  I  know  of  no  single 
judge  who  has  set  up  so  many.  I  think  it  may  be  said, 
without  fear  of  question,  that  the  Reports  show  a  larger 
number  of  judicial  opinions  from  Story,  which  posterity 
will  not  willingly  let  die,  than  from  any  other  judge  in 
the  history  of  English  or  American  law. 

There  is  much  of  his  character  as  a  Judge  which 
cannot  be  preserved,  except  in  the  faithful  memory  of 
those  whose  happiness  it  was  to  enjoy  his  judicial  pres 
ence.  I  refer  particularly  to  his  mode  of  conducting 
business.  Even  the  passing  stranger  bore  witness  to 
his  suavity  of  manner  on  the  bench,  while  all  practi 
tioners  in  the  courts  where  he  presided  so  long  attest 
the  marvellous  quickness  with  which  he  seized  habit 
ually  the  points  of  a  case,  often  anticipating  the  slower 
movements  of  counsel,  and  leaping,  or,  I  might  almost 
say,  flying,  to  the  proper  conclusion.  Napoleon's  percep- 


140     TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

tion,  at  the  head  of  an  army,  was  not  more  rapid.  Nor 
can  I  forget  the  scrupulous  care  with  which  he  assigned 
reasons  for  every  portion  of  his  opinions,  showing  that 
it  was  not  he  who  spoke  with  the  voice  of  authority,  but 
the  law,  whose  organ  he  was. 

In  the  history  of  the  English  bench  there  are  but  two 
names  with  combined  eminence  as  Judge  and  Author, 
—  Coke  and  Hale,  —  unless,  indeed,  the  "Ordinances 
in  Chancery,"  from  the  Verulamian  pen,  should  entitle 
Lord  Bacon  to  this  distinction,  and  the  judgments  of 
Lord  Brougham  should  vindicate  the  same  for  liim. 
Blackstone's  character  as  judge  is  lost  in  the  fame  of 
the  Commentaries.  To  Story  belongs  this  double  glory. 
Early  in  life  he  compiled  an  important  professional 
work  ;  but  it  was  only  at  a  comparatively  recent  period, 
after  his  mind  had  been  disciplined  by  the  labors  of  the 
bench,  that  he  prepared  those  elaborate  Commentaries 
which  have  made  his  name  a  familiar  word  in  foreign 
countries.  They  who  knew  him  best  observed  the 
lively  interest  which  he  took  in  this  extension  of  his 
renown.  And  most  justly ;  for  the  voice  of  distant 
foreign  nations  comes  as  from  a  living  posterity.  His 
works  have  been  reviewed  with  praise  in  the  journals 
of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  and  Germany. 
They  are  cited  as  authorities  in  all  the  Courts  of  West 
minster  Hall ;  and  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  learned 
jurists  of  the  age,  whose  honorable  career  at  the  Imr  has 
opened  to  him  the  peerage,  —  Lord  Campbell,  —  in  the 
course  of  debate  in  the  House  of  Lords,  accorded  to 
their  author  an  exalted  place,  saying  that  lie  "  had  a 
greater  reputation  as  a  legal  writer  than  any  author  Eng 
land  could  boast  since  the  days  of  Blackstone." 1 

I  Hansard,  LXVTIL  667. 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      141 

To  complete  this  hasty  survey,  I  should  allude  to  his 
excellences  as  a  Teacher  of  law,  that  other  relation 
which-  he  sustained  to  jurisprudence.  The  numerous 
pupils  reared  at  his  feet,  and  now  scattered  through 
out  the  country,  diffusing,  in  their  different  circles,  the 
light  obtained  at  Cambridge,  as  they  hear  that  their  be 
loved  master  has  fallen,  will  each  feel  that  he  has  lost 
a  friend.  He  had  the  faculty,  rare  as  it  is  exquisite,  of 
interesting  the  young,  and  winning  their  affections.  I 
have  often  seen  him  surrounded  by  a  group  of  youths, 

—  the  ancient   Eomans  might  have  aptly  called  it  a 
corona,  —  all  intent  upon  his  earnest  conversation,  and 
freely  interrogating  him  on  matters  of  interest.     In  his 
lectures,  and  other  forms  of  instruction,  he  was  prodigal 
of  explanation  and  illustration ;  his  manner,  according 
to  the  classical  image  of  Zeno,  was  like  the  open  palm, 
never  like  the  clenched  fist.     His  learning  was  always 
overflowing,  as  from  the  horn  of  abundance.     He  was 
earnest  and   unrelaxing  in  effort,  patient  and  gentle, 
while  he  listened  with  inspiring  attention  to  all  that  the 
pupil  said.     Like  Chaucer's  Clerk, 

"  And  gladly  wolde  he  lerne,  and  gladly  teche." 

Above  all,  he  was   a  living   example  of  love  for  the 
law,  —  supposed  by  many  to  be  unlovely  and  repulsive, 

—  which  seemed  to  grow  warmer  under  the  snows  of 
accumulating  winters ;  and  such  an  example  could  not 
fail,  with  magnetic  power,  to  touch  the  hearts  of  the 
young.     Nor  should  I  forget  the  lofty  standard  of  pro 
fessional  morals  which  he  inculcated,  filling  his  discourse 
with  the  charm  of  goodness.     Under  such  auspices,  and 
those  of  his  learned  associate,  Professor  Greenleaf,  large 
classes  of  students,  larger  than  any  other  in  America, 


142      TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

or  in  England,  were  annually  gathered  in  Cambridge. 
The  Law  School  became  the  glory  of  the  University. 

He  was  proud  of  his  character  as  Professor.  In  his 
earlier  works  he  is  called  on  the  title-page  "  Dane  Pro 
fessor  of  Law."  It  was  only  on  the  suggestion  of  the 
English  publisher  that  he  was  induced  to  append 
the  other  title,  "  One  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States."  He  looked  forward  with 
peculiar  satisfaction  to  the  time  which  seemed  at  hand, 
when  he  should  lay  down  the  honors  and  cares  of  the 
bench,  and  devote  himself  singly  to  the  duties  of  his 
chair. 

I  have  merely  glanced  at  him  in  his  three  several 
relations  to  jurisprudence.  Great  in  each,  it  is  on  this 
unprecedented  combination  that  his  peculiar  fame  will 
be  reared,  as  upon  an  immortal  tripod.  In  what  I  have 
written,  I  do  not  think  I  am  biased  by  partialities  of  pri 
vate  friendship.  I  have  endeavored  to  regard  him  as 
posterity  will  regard  him,  as  all  must  regard  him  now 
who  fully  know  him  in  liis  works.  Imagine  for  one 
moment  the  irreparable  loss,  if  all  that  lie  has  done 
were  blotted  out  forever.  As  I  think  of  the  incalculable 
facilities  afforded  by  his  labors,  I  cannot  but  say  with 
Racine,  when  speaking  of  Descartes,  "  NOILS  courons; 
mats,  sans  lui,  nous  ne  marcherions  pas."  Besides,  it  is  he 
who  has  inspired  in  many  foreign  bosoms,  reluctant  to 
perceive  good  in  our  country,  a  sincere  homage  to  the 
American  name.  He  has  turned  the  stream  refluent 
upon  the  ancient  fountains  of  Westminster  Hall,  and, 
stranger  still,  has  forced  the  waters  above  their  sources, 
up  the  unaccustomed  heights  of  countries  alien  to  the 
Common  Law.  It  is  he  also  who  has  directed,  from  the 
copious  well-springs  of  Roman  Law,  and  from  the  fresher 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      143 

currents  of  modern  Continental  Law,  a  pure  and  grateful 
stream-  to  enrich  and  fertilize  our  domestic  jurisprudence. 
In  his  judgments,  his  books,  and  his  teachings,  he  drew 
always  from  other  systems  to  illustrate  the  Common 
Law. 

The  mind  naturally  seeks  to  compare  him  with  emi 
nent  jurists,  servants  of  Themis,  who  share  with  him  the 
wide  spaces  of  fame.  In  genius  for  the  law,  in  the  ex 
ceeding  usefulness  of  his  career,  in  the  blended  charac 
ter  of  Judge  and  Author,  he  cannot  yield  to  our  time- 
honored  master,  Lord  Coke ;  in  suavity  of  manner,  and 
in  silver-tongued  eloquence,  he  may  compare  with  Lord 
Mansfield,  while  in  depth,  accuracy,  and  variety  of  ju 
ridical  learning  he  surpassed  him  far ;  if  he  yields  to 
Lord  Stowell  in  elegance  of  diction,  he  exceeds  even  his 
excellence  in  curious  exploration  of  the  foundations  of 
that  jurisdiction  which  they  administered  in  common, 
and  in  the  development  of  those  great  principles  of  pub 
lic  law  whose  just  determination  helps  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  nations  ;  and  even  in  the  peculiar  field  illus 
trated  by  the  long  career  of  Eldon,  we  find  him  a  famil 
iar  worker,  with  Eldon's  profusion  of  learning,  and  with 
out  the  perplexity  of  his  doubts.  There  are  many  who 
regard  the  judicial  character  of  the  late  Chief  Justice 
Marshall  as  unapproachable.  I  revere  his  name,  and 
have  read  his  judgments,  which  seem  like  "  pure  rea 
son,"  with  admiration  and  gratitude ;  but  I  cannot  dis 
guise  that  even  these  noble  memorials  must  yield  in 
juridical  character,  learning,  acuteness,  fervor,  variety  of 
topics,  as  they  are  far  inferior  in  amount,  to  those  of  our 
friend.  There  is  still  spared  to  us  a  renowned  judge,  at 
this  moment  the  unquestioned  living  head  of  American 
jurisprudence,  with  no  rival  near  the  throne,  —  Chancel- 


144     TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

lor  Kent, —  whose  judgments  and  works  always  inspired 
the  warmest  eulogy  of  the  departed,  and  whose  charac 
ter  as  a  jurist  furnishes  the  fittest  parallel  to  his  own  in 
the  annals  of  our  law. 

It  seems  idle  to  weave  further  these  vain  comparisons, 
particularly  to  invoke  the  living.  But  busy  fancy  re 
vives  the  past,  and  persons  and  scenes  renew  themselves 
in  my  memory.  I  call  to  mind  the  recent  Chancellor 
of  England,  the  model  of  a  clear,  grave,  learned,  and 
conscientious  magistrate,  —  Lord  Cottenham.  I  see 
again  the  ornaments  of  Westminster  Hall,  on  the  bench 
and  at  the  bar,  where  sits  Denman,  in  manner,  conduct, 
and  character  "  every  inch  "  the  judge,  —  where  pleaded 
the  consummate  lawyer,  Follett,  whose  voice  is  now 
hushed  in  the  grave ;  their  judgments,  their  arguments, 
their  conversation  I  cannot  forget;  but  thinking  of 
these,  I  feel  new  pride  in  the  great  Magistrate,  the  just 
Judge,  the  consummate  Lawyer  whom  we  lament. 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  know  the  chief  jurists  of 
our  time,  in  the  classical  countries  of  jurisprudence, 
France  and  Germany.  I  remember  well  the  pointed 
and  effective  style  of  Dupin,  in  one  of  his  masterly  ar 
guments  before  the  highest  court  of  France ;  I  recall 
the  pleasant  converse  of  Pardessus  —  to  whom  commer 
cial  and  maritime  law  is  under  a  larger  debt,  perhaps, 
than  to  any  other  mind — while  he  descanted  on  his 
favorite  theme ;  I  wander  in  fancy  to  the  gentle  pres 
ence  of  him  with  flowing  silver  locks  who  was  so  dear 
to  Germany,  —  Thibaut,  the  expounder  of  Roman  law, 
and  the  earnest  and  successful  advocate  of  a  just 
scheme  for  the  reduction  of  the  unwritten  law  to  the 
certainty  of  a  written  text ;  from  Heidelberg  I  pass  to 
Berlin,  where  I  listen  to  the  grave  lecture  and  mingle 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      145 

in  the  social  circle  of  Savigny,  so  stately  in  person  and 
peculiar  in  countenance,  whom  all  the  continent  of  Eu 
rope  delights  to  honor ;  but  my  heart  and  my  judgment, 
untravelled,  fondly  turn  with  new  love  and  admiration 
to  my  Cambridge  teacher  and  friend.  Jurisprudence 
has  many  arrows  in  her  quiver,  but  where  is  one  to 
compare  with  that  which  is  now  spent  in  the  earth  ? 

The  fame  of  the  Jurist  is  enhanced  by  various  at 
tainments  superinduced  upon  learning  in  the  law.  His 
"  Miscellaneous  Writings "  show  a  thoughtful  mind, 
imbued  with  elegant  literature,  warm  with  kindly  senti 
ments,  commanding  a  style  of  rich  and  varied  eloquence. 
Many  passages  from  these  have  become  commonplaces 
of  our  schools.  In  early  life  he  yielded  to  the  fasci 
nations  of  the  poetic  muse ;  and  here  the  great  law 
yer  may  find  companionship  with  Selden,  who  is  in 
troduced  by  Suckling  into  the  "  Session  of  the  Poets  " 
as  "  hard  by  the  chair,"  —  with  Blackstone,  whose  "  Fare 
well  to  his  Muse "  shows  his  fondness  for  poetic  pas 
tures,  even  while  his  eye  was  directed  to  the  heights  of 
the  law,  —  and  also  with  Mansfield,  whom  Pope  has 
lamented  in  familiar  words, 

"  How  sweet  an  Ovid  Murray !  was  our  boast." 

I  have  now  before  me,  in  his  own  handwriting,  some 
verses  written  by  him  in  1833,  entitled,  "Advice  to  a 
Young  Lawyer."  As  they  cannot  fail  to  be  read  with 
interest,  I  introduce  them  here. 

"  Whene'er  you  speak,  remember  every  cause 
Stands  not  on  eloquence,  but  stands  on  laws ; 
Pregnant  in  matter,  in  expression  brief, 
Let  every  sentence  stand  with  bold  relief; 
On  trifling  points  nor  time  nor  talents  waste, 
A  sad  offence  to  learning  and  to  taste; 
VOL.  i.  7  J 


146     TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

Nor  deal  with  pompous  phrase,  nor  e'er  suppose 
Poetic  flights  belong  to  reasoning  prose. 
Loose  declamation  may  deceive  the  crowd, 
And  seem  more  striking  as  it  grows  more  loud ; 
But  sober  sense  rejects  it  with  disdain, 
As  naught  but  empty  noise,  and  weak  as  vain. 
The  froth  of  words,  the  schoolboy's  vain  parade 
Of  books  and  cases  (all  his  stock  in  trade), 
The  pert  conceits,  the  funning  tricks  and  play 
Of  low  attorneys,  strung  in  long  array, 
The  unseemly  jest,  the  petulant  reply, 
That  chatters  on,  and  cares  not  how  nor  why, 
Studious,  avoid :  unworthy  themes  to  scan, 
They  sink  the  speaker  and  disgrace  the  man; 
Like  the  false  lights  by  flying  shadows  cast, 
Scarce  seen  when  present,  and  forgot  when  past. 

"Begin  with  dignity;  expound  with  grace 
Each  ground  of  reasoning  in  its  time  and  place; 
Let  order  reign  throughout ;  each  topic  touch, 
Nor  urge  its  power  too  little  or  too  much ; 
Give  each  strong  thought  its  most  attractive  view, 
In  diction  clear,  and  yet  severely  true; 
And  as  the  arguments  in  splendor  grow, 
Let  each  reflect  its  light  on  all  below. 
When  to  the  close  arrived,  make  no  delays 
By  petty  flourishes  or  verbal  plays, 
But  sum  the  whole  in  one  deep,  solemn  strain, 
Like  a  strong  current  hastening  to  the  main." 

But  the  jurist,  rich  with  the  spoils  of  time,  the  ex 
alted  magistrate,  the  orator,  the  writer,  all  vanish  when 
I  think  of  the  friend.  Much  as  the  world  may  admire 
his  memory,  all  who  knew  him  will  love  it  more.  Who 
can  forget  his  bounding  step,  his  contagious  laugh,  his 
exhilarating  voice,  his  beaming  smile,  his  countenance 
that  shone  like  a  benediction  ?  What  pen  can  describe 
these  ?  What  canvas  or  marble  can  portray  them  ?  He 
was  always  the  friend  of  the  young,  who  never  tired  in 
listening  to  his  mellifluous  discourse.  Nor  did  they 
ever  leave  his  presence  without  a  warmer  glow  of  virtue, 


TRIBUTE  TO  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY.      147 

a  more  inspiring  love  of  knowledge,  and  more  generous 
impulses  of  action.  I  remember  him  in  my  childhood  ; 
but  I  first  knew  him  after  he  came  to  Cambridge  as 
Professor,  while  I  was  yet  an  undergraduate,  and  now 
recall  freshly,  as  if  the  words  were  of  yesterday,  the 
eloquence  and  animation  with  which  at  that  time  he 
enforced  upon  a  youthful  circle  the  beautiful  truth,  that 
no  man  stands  in  the  way  of  another.  The  world  is 
wide  enough  for  all,  he  said,  and  no  success  which  may 
crown  our  neighbor  can  affect  our  own  career.  In  this 
spirit  he  ran  his  race  on  earth,  without  jealousy,  without 
envy,  —  nay,  more,  overflowing  with  appreciation  and 
praise  of  labors  which  compared  humbly  with  his  own. 
In  conversation  he  dwelt  with  fervor  upon  all  the  top 
ics  which  interest  man,  —  not  only  upon  law,  but  upon 
literature,  history,  human  character,  the  affairs  of  every 
day,  —  above  all,  upon  the  great  duties  of  life,  the  rela 
tions  of  men  to  each  other,  to  country,  to  God.  High 
in  his  mind,  above  all  human  opinions  and  practices, 
were  the  everlasting  rules  of  Eight;  nor  did  he  ever 
rise  to  truer  eloquence  than  when  condemning,  as  I 
have  more  than  once  heard  him  recently,  that  evil  sen 
timent,  " Our  country,  right  or  wrong"  which,  in  what 
soever  form  of  language  it  may  disguise  itself,  assails 
the  very  foundations  of  justice  and  virtue. 

He  was  happy  in  life,  happy  also  in  death.  It  was 
his  hope,  expressed  in  health,  that  he  should  not  be 
allowed  to  linger  superfluous  on  the  stage,  nor  waste 
under  the  slow  progress  of  disease.  He  was  always 
ready  to  meet  his  God.  His  wishes  were  answered. 
Two  days  before  his  last  illness  he  was  in  court,  and 
delivered  an  elaborate  judgment  on  a  complicated  case 
in  equity.  Since  his  death  another  judgment  in  a  case 


148     TRIBUTE  TO  TUB  LATE  JOSEPH  STORY. 

already  argued  before  him  has  been  found  among  his 
papers,  ready  to  be  pronounced. 

I  saw  him  for  a  single  moment  on  the  evening  pre 
ceding  his  illness.  It  was  an  accidental  meeting  away 
from  his  own  house,  —  the  last  time  that  the  open  air 
fanned  his  cheeks.  His  words  of  familiar,  household 
greeting  still  linger  in  my  ears,  like  an  enchanted  mel 
ody.  The  morning  sun  saw  him  on  the  bed  from  which 
he  never  rose. 

Thus  closed,  after  an  illness  of  eight  days,  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family,  without  pain,  surrounded  by 
friends,  a  life  which,  through  various  vicissitudes  of 
disease,  had  been  spared  beyond  the  grand  climacteric, 
that  Cape  of  Storms  in  the  sea  of  human  existence. 

"  Multis  Hie  bonis  fit-bills  occidit, 
Nulli  flebilior  quam  mihi." 

He  is  gone,  and  we  shall  see  him  no  more  on  earth, 
except  in  his  works,  and  the  memory  of  his  virtues. 
The  scales  of  justice,  which  he  so  long  held,  have  fallen 
from  his  hand.  The  untiring  pen  of  the  Author  rests 
at  last.  The  voice  of  the  Teacher  is  mute.  The  foun 
tain,  which  was  ever  flowing  and  ever  full,  is  stopped. 
The  lips,  on  which  the  bees  of  Hybla  might  have  rested, 
will  no  more  distil  their  honeyed  sweets.  The  manly 
form,  warm  with  all  the  affections  of  life,  with  love  for 
family  and  friends,  for  truth  and  virtue,  is  now  cold  in 
death.  The  justice  of  nations  is  eclipsed ;  the  life  of 
the  law  is  suspended.  But  let  us  listen  to  the  words 
which,  though  dead,  he  utters  from  the  grave  :  "  Sorrow 
not  as  those  without  hope."  The  righteous  judge,  the 
wise  teacher,  the  faithful  friend,  the  loving  father,  has 
ascended  to  his  Judge,  his  Teacher,  his  Friend,  his 
Father  in  Heaven. 


THE  WRONG  OF  SLAVERY. 

SPEECH  AT  A  PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON,  AGAINST 

THE  ADMISSION  OF  TEXAS  AS  A  SLAVE  STATE, 

NOVEMBER  4,  1845. 


THE  officers  of  this  meeting  were  Hon.  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Presi 
dent  ;  James  M.  Whiton,  Charles  G.  Hovey,  and  William  I.  Bowditch, 
Secretaries.  The  President  made  a  speech  on  taking  the  chair.  He 
was  followed  by  Hon.  John  G.  Palfrey,  Charles  Sumner,  Wendell 
Phillips,  Henry  B.  Stanton,  George  S.  Hillard,  Rev.  William  H.  Chan- 
ning,  and  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  The  meeting  was  thus  sympatheti 
cally  described  by  the  Liberator :  — 

"  Faneuil  Hall  next  had  a  meeting,  more  worthy  of  its  fame  than  the 
one  which  was  held  in  it  on  Tuesday  evening  last,  to  set  the  ball  in  mo 
tion  for  another  grand  rally  of  the  freemen  of  the  North  against  the  ad 
mission  of  Texas  into  the  Union  as  a  Slave  State.  The  weather  was  ex 
tremely  unpropitious,  —  the  rain  pouring  down  violently,  the  thunder 
roaring,  and  the  lightning  blazing  vividly  at  intervals,  —  emblematic  of 
the  present  moral  and  political  aspects  of  the  country." 

The  Daily  Times,  a  democratic  paper  of  Boston,  in  its  account  of 
the  meeting  made  the  severe  storm  play  an  important  part.  Here  is 
something  of  what  it  said  :  — 

"  The  elements  seemed  determined  not  to  sanction  any  such  traitor- 
like  movement,  and  interposed  every  obstacle  to  its  success.  It  was 
proper  that  such  a  foul  project  should  have  foul  weather  as  an  accompa 
niment.  The  night  was  dark,  and  so  were  the  designs  contemplated." 
To  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery  was  traitor-like,  foul,  and  dark. 

The  Resolutions  adopted  at  the  meeting  were  drawn  by  Mr.  Sumner, 
although  introduced  by  another.  They  were  the  first  political  resolutions 
ever  drawn  by  him,  as  the  speech  which  follows  was  the  first  political 
speech  ever  made  by  him.  The  Resolutions,  while  condemning  slavery 
and  denouncing  the  plan  to  secure  its  predominance  in  the  National 
Government,  start  with  the  annunciation  of  Equal  Right*  and  tfie 


150  THE  WRONG  OF  SLAVERY. 

Brotherhood  of  all  Men,  as  set  forth  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  Mr.  Simmer  always,  from  beginning  to  end,  made  the  founda 
tion  of  his  argument*,  appeals,  and  aspirations. 

"  Whereat  the  Government  and  Independence  of  the  United  State*  are 
founded  on  the  adamantine  truth  of  Equal  Riijhtt  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
all  Men,  declared  on  tin-  4th  of  July,  1776,  a  t ruth  receiving  new  and  con 
stant  recognition  in  the  progress  of  time,  and  which  is  the  great  lesson 
from  our  country  to  the  world,  in  support  of  which  the  founders  toiled  and 
bled,  and  on  account  of  which  we,  their  children,  bless  their  memory,  — 

"Ami  whereat  it  is  essential  to  our  self-respect  as  a  nation,  and  to  our 
fame  in  history,  that  this  truth,  declared  by  our  fathers,  should  not  be  im 
peached  or  violated  by  any  fresh  act  of  their  children,  — 

"  And  ichereat  tiie  scheme  for  the  annexation  of  Texas  as  a  Slave  State,  be 
gun  in  stealth  and  fraud,  and  carried  on  to  confirm  Slavery  and  extend  its 
bounds,  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  our  institutions,  is  not 
consummated,  and  may  yet  be  arrested  by  the  zealous  and  hearty  co-opera 
tion  of  all  who  sincerely  love  their  country  and  the  liberty  of  mankind,  — 

'•  And  whereat  tin's  scheme,  if  successful,  involves  the  whole  country,  Free 
States  as  well  as  slave-owners,  in  one  of  the  two  greatest  crimes  a  nation 
can  commit,  and  threatens  to  involve  them  in  the  other,  —  namely,  Slavery 
and  unjust  War,  —  Shivery  of  the  most  revolting  character,  and  War  to  sus 
tain  Slavery,  — 

'•  And  tchereat  the  State  Constitution  of  Texas,  which  will  soon  be  submit 
ted  to  Congress  for  adoption  or  rejection,  expressly  prohibits  the  Legisla 
ture,  except  under  conditions  rendering  the  exception  practically  void,  from 
enacting  any  law  for  the  emancipation  of  slaves,  and  for  the  abolition  of 
the  slave-trade  between  Texas  and  the  United  States,  thereby  reversing  en 
tirely  the  natural  and  just  tendency  of  our  institutions  towards  Freedom, — 

"  And  ichereat  the  slaveholders  seek  annexation  for  the  purpose  of  increas 
ing  th«-  market  of  human  flesh,  and  for  extending  and  perpetuating  Slavery, — 

"  And  whereat,  by  the  triumph  of  this  scheme,  and  by  creating  new  Slave 
State*  within  the  limits  of  Texas,  the  slaveholders  seek  to  control  the  politi 
cal  power  of  the  majority  of  freemen  represented  in  the  Congress  of  the 
Union:  — 

"  Therefore  be  it  retolved,  in  the  name  of  God,  of  Christ,  and  of  Humanity, 
that  we,  belonging  to  all  political  parties,  and  reserving  all  other  reasons  of 
objection,  unite  hi  protest  against  the  admission  of  Texas  into  this  Union  as 
*  Slave  State. 

"  Ketoked,  That  the  people  of  Massachusetts  will  continue  to  resist  the 
consummation  of  this  wicked  purpose,  which  will  cover  the  country  with 
disgrace,  and  make  us  responsible  for  crimes  of  gigantic  magnitude. 

"  RmJted,  That  we  have  the  fullest  confidence  that  the  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  of  Massachusetts  in  Congress  will  never  consent  to  the  admis- 
•ion  of  Texas  as  a  Slave  State,  but  by  voice  and  vote  will  resist  this  fatal 
•••are  to  the  utmost  at  every  stage. 


THE  WRONG   OF   SLAVERY.  151 

"And  furthermore,  whereat  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  by  assum 
ing  to  connect  this  country  with  a  foreign  state,  have  already  involved  the 
people  of  the  Free  States  in  great  expenditure  for  the  protection  of  the 
usurped  territory  by  force  of  arms  on  sea  and  land,  — 

"  And  whereas  a  still  greater  outlay  may  hereafter  be  incurred  to  main 
tain  by  violence  what  is  held  by  wrong:  — 

"Retohed,  That  we  protest  against  the  policy  of  enlisting  the  strength  of  a 
free  people  to  sustain  by  physical  force  a  measure  urged  with  the  criminal 
purpose  of  perpetiiating  a  system  of  slavery  at  war  with  the  fundamental 
principle  of  our  institutions. 

"Resolved,  That  a  committee  be  appointed  by  the  chair  to  present  copies  of 
these  Resolutions  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives  from  Massachusetts, 
and  also  to  send  them  to  every  Senator  and  Representative  in  Congress 
from  the  Free  States." 

MR  CHAIRMAN,  —  I  could  not  listen  to  the 
appropriate  remarks  of  my  friend,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Commonwealth,1  without  recalling  an  important 
act  in  his  life,  and  feeling  anew  what  all  must  feel,  the 
beauty  of  his  example  in  the  fraternal  treatment  of 
slaves  descended  to  him  by  inheritance,  manumitting 
them  as  he  has  done,  and  conducting  them  far  away 
from  Slavery  into  these  more  cheerful  precincts  of  Free 
dom.  In  offering  him  this  humble  tribute,  I  am  sure 
that  I  awaken  a  response  in  every  heart  that  has  not 
ceased  to  throb  at  the  recital  of  an  act  of  self-sacrifice 
and  humanity.  He  has  done  as  a  citizen  what  Massa 
chusetts  is  now  called  to  do  as  a  State.  He  has  di 
vested  himself  of  all  responsibility  for  any  accession  of 
slave  property,  and  the  State  must  do  likewise. 

There  are  occasions,  in  the  progress  of  affairs,  when 
persons,  though  ordinarily  opposed  to  each  other,  come 
together,  and  even  the  lukewarm,  the  listless,  the  indif 
ferent  unite  heartily  in  a  common  object.  Such  is  the 
case  in  great  calamities,  when  the  efforts  of  all  are  needed 
to  avert  a  fatal  blow.  If  the  fire-bell  startles  us  from  our 

l  Hon.  John  G.  Palfrey. 


152  THE  WRONG  OF  SLAVERY. 

slumbers,  we  do  not  ask  of  what  faith  in  politics  or 
religion  is  the  unfortunate  brother  whose  house  is  ex 
posed  to  conflagration ;  it  is  enough  that  there  is  mis 
fortune  to  be  averted-.  In  this  spirit  we  have  assem 
bled  on  this  inclement  evening,  —  putting  aside  all  dis 
tinctions  of  party,  —  forgetting  all  disagreements  of 
opinion,  to  remember  one  thing  only,  on  which  all  are 
agreed,  —  renouncing  all  discords,  to  stand  firm  on 
one  ground  only,  where  we  all  meet  in  concord :  I  mean 
opposition  to  Texas  as  a  Slave  State. 

The  scheme  for  the  annexation  of  Texas,  begun  in 
stealth  and  fraud,  in  order  to  extend  and  strengthen 
Slavery,  has  not  yet  received  the  final  sanction  of  Con 
gress.  According  to  the  course  proposed  by  these 
machinators,  it  is  necessary  that  Texas  should  be  for 
mally  admitted  into  the  family  of  States  by  a  vote 
of  Congress,  and  that  her  Constitution  should  be  ap 
proved  by  Congress.  The  question  will  be  presented 
this  winter,  and  we  would,  if  we  could,  strengthen  the 
hearts  and  words  of  those  by  whom  the  measure  will 
be  opposed. 

Ours  is  no  factious  or  irregular  course.  It  has  the 
sanction  of  the  best  examples  on  a  kindred  occasion. 
The  very  question  before  us  occurred  in  1819,  on  the 
admission  of  Missouri  as  a  Slave  State.  I  need  not 
remind  you  of  the  ardor  and  constancy  with  which  this 
was  opposed  at  the  North,  by  men  of  all  parties,  with 
scarcely  a  dissenting  voice.  One  universal  chorus  of 
protest  thundered  from  the  North  against  the  forma 
tion  of  what  was  called  another  black  State.  Meetings 
were  convened  in  all  the  considerable  towns,  —  Phila 
delphia,  Trenton,  New  York,  New  Haven,  and  every 
where  throughout  Massachusetts,  —  to  make  this  oppo- 


THE  WRONG   OF   SLAVERY.  153 

sition  audible  on  the  floor  of  Congress.  At  Boston, 
December  the  3d,  1819,  a  meeting  without  distinction 
of  party,  and  embracing  the  leaders  of  both  sides,  was 
held  in  the  State-House.  That  meeting,  in  its  object, 
was  precisely  like  the  present.  A  numerous  committee 
to  prepare  resolutions  was  appointed,  of  which  William 
Eustis,  afterwards  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  chair 
man.  With  him  were  associated  John  Phillips,  at  that 
time  President  of  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  —  a 
name  dear  to  every  friend  of  the  slave,  as  father  of 
him  to  whose  eloquent  voice  we  hope  to  listen  to 
night,1 —  Timothy  Bigelow,  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Eepresentatives,  William  Gray,  Henry  Dearborn,  Jo- 
siah  Quincy,  Daniel  Webster,  William  Ward,  William 
Prescott,  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  Stephen  White,  Benjamin 
Pickman,  William  Sullivan,  George  Blake,  David  Cum 
mins,  James  Savage,  John  Gallison,  James  T.  Austin, 
and  Henry  Orne.  No  committee  could  have  been  ap 
pointed  better  fitted  to  inspire  the  confidence  of  all 
sides.  Numerous  as  were  its  members,  they  were  all 
men  of  mark  and  consideration  in  our  community. 
This  committee  reported  the  following  resolutions, 
which  were  adopted  by  the  meeting. 

"Resolved,  as  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  that  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  possesses  the  constitutional  power,  upon 
the  admission  of  any  new  State  created  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  original  territory  of  the  United  States,  to  make  the  pro 
hibition  of  the  further  extension  of  slavery  or  involuntary 
servitude  in  such  new  State  a  condition  of  its  admission. 

"Resolved,  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  it  is  just 
and  expedient  that  this  power  should  be  exercised  by  Con 
gress  upon  the  admission  of  all  new  States  created  beyond 
the  original  limits  of  the  United  States." 
i  Wendell  Phillips  Esq. 


154  THE  WRONG   OF  SLAVERY. 

The  meeting  in  Boston  was  followed  by  another  in  Sa 
lem,  called,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  notice,  to  con 
sider  "  whether  the  immense  region  of  country  extending 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  destined  to 
be  the  abode  of  happiness,  independence,  and  freedom, 
or  the  wide  prison  of  misery  and  slavery"  Resolutions 
were  passed  against  the  admission  of  any  Slave  State, 
being  supported  by  Benjamin  T.  Pickman,  Andrew  Dun- 
lap,  and  Joseph  Story,  a  name  of  authority  wherever 
found.  In  the  meeting  at  Worcester,  Solomon  Strong 
and  Levi  Lincoln  took  a  prominent  part.  Resolutions 
were  adopted  here,  "  earnestly  requesting  their  represen 
tatives  in  Congress  to  use  their  unremitted  exertions  to 
prevent  the  sanction  of  that  honorable  body  to  any 
further  introduction  of  slavery  within  the  extending 
limits  of  the  United  States."  By  these  assemblies  the 
Commonwealth  was  aroused.  To  Slavery  it  presented 
an  unbroken  front. 

Since  these  efforts  in  the  cause  of  Freedom  twenty- 
five  years  have  passed.  Some  of  the  partakers  in  them 
are  still  spared  to  us,  —  I  need  not  add,  full  of  years  and 
honors.  The  larger  part  have  been  called  from  the  duty 
of  opposing  slavery  on  earth.  The  same  question  which 
aroused  their  energies  presents  itself  to  us.  Shall  we 
be  less  faithful  than  they  ?  Will  Massachusetts  oppose 
a  less  unbroken  front  now  than  then  ?  In  the  lapse  of 
these  few  years  has  the  love  of  freedom  diminished  ? 
Has  sensibility  to  human  suffering  lost  any  of  the 
keenness  of  its  edge  ? 

Let  us  regard  the  question  more  closely.  Congress  it 
asked  to  sanction  the  Constitution  of  Texas,  which  not 
only  supports  slavery,  but  contains  a  clause  prohibiting 
the  Legislature  of  the  State  from  abolishing  slavery. 


THE  WRONG  OF   SLAVERY.  155 

In  doing  this,  it  will  give  a  "fresh  stamp  of  legislative 
approbation  to  an  unrighteous  system  ;  it  will  assume  a 
new  and  active  responsibility  for  the  system;  it  will 
again  become  a  dealer  in  human  flesh,  and  on  a  gigantic 
scale.  At  this  moment,  when  the  conscience  of  man 
kind  is  at  last  aroused  to  the  enormity  of  holding  a 
fellow-man  in  bondage,  when,  throughout  the  civilized 
world,  a  slave-dealer  is  a  by- word  and  a  reproach,  we  as 
a  nation  are  about  to  become  proprietors  of  a  large 
population  of  slaves.  Such  an  act,  at  this  time,  is  re 
moved  from  the  reach  of  that  palliation  often  extended 
to  slavery.  Slavery,  we  are  speciously  told  by  those 
who  defend  it,  is  not  our  original  sin.  It  was  entailed 
upon  us  by  our  ancestors,  so  we  are  instructed  ;  and  the 
responsibility  is  often,  with  exultation,  thrown  upon  the 
mother  country.  Now,  without  stopping  to  inquire  into 
the  truth  of  this  allegation,  it  is  sufficient  for  the  pres 
ent  purpose  to  know  that  by  welcoming  Texas  as  a  Slave 
State  we  make  slavery  our  own  original  sin.  Here  is  a 
new  case  of  actual  transgression,  which  we  cannot  cast 
upon  the  shoulders  of  any  progenitors,  nor  upon  any 
mother  country,  distant  in  time  or  place.  The  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
at  this  day,  in  this  vaunted  period  of  light,  will  be  re 
sponsible  for  it ;  so  that  it  will  be  said  hereafter,  so  long 
as  the  dreadful  history  of  Slavery  is  read,  that  in  the 
present  year  of  Christ  a  new  and  deliberate  act  was 
passed  to  confirm  and  extend  it. 

By  the  present  movement  we  propose  no  measure  of 
change.  We  do  not  offer  to  interfere  with  any  institu 
tion  of  the  Southern  States,  nor  to  modify  any  law  on 
the  subject  of  Slavery  anywhere  under  the  Constitution. 
Our  movement  is  conservative.  It  is  to  preserve  ex- 


156  THE  WRONG   OF  SLAVERY. 

isting  supports  of  Freedom  ;  it  is  to  prevent  the  viola 
tion  of  free  institutions  in  their  vital  principles. 

Such  a  movement  should  unite  in  its  support  all  but 
those  few  in  whose  distorted  or  unnatural  vision  slavery 
seems  to  be  a  great  good.  Most  clearly  should  it  unite 
the  freemen  of  the  North,  by  all  the  considerations  of 
self-interest,  and  by  those  higher  considerations  founded 
on  the  rights  of  man.  I  cannot  dwell  now  upon  the 
controlling  political  influence  in  the  councils  of  the 
country  which  the  annexation  of  Texas  will  secure  to 
slaveholders.  This  topic  is  of  importance  ;  but  it  yields 
to  the  supreme  requirements  of  religion,  morals,  and 
humanity.  I  cannot  banish  from  my  view  the  great 
shame  and  wrong  of  slavery.  Judges  of  our  courts 
have  declared  it  contrary  to  the  Law  of  Nature,  finding 
its  support  only  in  positive  enactments  of  men.  Its 
horrors  who  can  tell  ?  Language  utterly  fails  to  depict 
them. 

By  the  proposed  measure,  we  not  only  become  par 
ties  to  the  acquisition  of  a  large  population  of  slaves, 
with  all  the  crime  of  slavery,  but  we  open  a  new  mar 
ket  for  the  slaves  of  Virginia  and  the  Carolinas,  and 
legalize  a  new  slave-trade.  A  new  slave-trade  !  Con 
sider  this  well.  You  cannot  forget  the  horrors  of  that 
too  famous  "  middle  passage,"  where  crowds  of  human 
beings,  stolen,  and  borne  by  sea  far  from  their  warm 
African  homes,  are  pressed  on  shipboard  into  spaces  of 
smaller  dimensions  for  each  than  a  coffin.  And  yet  the 
deadly  consequences  of  this  middle  passage  are  be 
lieved  to  fall  short  of  those  sometimes  undergone  by 
the  wretched  coffles  driven  from  the  exhausted  lands  of 
the  Northern  Slave  States  to  the  sugar  plantations  near 
er  the  sun  of  the  South.  One  quarter  part  are  said 


THE   WRONG   OF   SLAVERY.  157 

often  to  perish  in  these  removals.  I  see  them,  in  im 
agination,  on  their  fatal  journey,  chained  in  bands,  and 
driven  like  cattle,  leaving  behind  what  has  become  to 
them  a  home  and  a  country,  (alas  !  what  a  home,  and 
what  a  country  !)  —  husband  torn  from  wife,  and  parent 
from  child,  to  be  sold  anew  into  more  direful  captiv 
ity.  Can  this  take  place  with  our  consent,  nay,  without 
our  most  determined  opposition  ?  If  the  slave-trade  is 
to  receive  new  adoption  from  our  country,  let  us  have 
no  part  or  lot  in  it.  Let  us  wash  our  hands  of  this 
great  guilt.  As  we  read  its  horrors,  may  each  of  us  be 
able  to  exclaim,  with  conscience  void  of  offence,  "  Thou 
canst  not  say  I  did  it."  God  forbid  that  the  votes  and 
voices  of  Northern  freemen  should  help  to  bind  anew 
the  fetters  of  the  slave !  God  forbid  that  the  lash  of 
the  slave-dealer  should  descend  by  any  sanction  from 
New  England  !  God  forbid  that  the  blood  which  spurts 
from  the  lacerated,  quivering  flesh  of  the  slave  should 
soil  the  hem  of  the  white  garments  of  Massachusetts  ! 

Voices  of  discouragement  reach  us  from  other  parts 
of  the  country,  and  even  from  our  own  friends  in  this 
bracing  air.  We  are  told  that  all  exertion  will  be  vain, 
and  that  the  admission  of  a  new  Slave  State  is  "a 
foregone  conclusion."  But  this  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  shrink  from  duty.  "I  will  try,"  was  the  re 
sponse  of  an  American  officer  on  the  field  of  battle. 
"  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,"  was  the 
signal  of  the  British  admiral  Ours  is  a  contest  holier 
than  those  which  aroused  these  stirring  words.  Let  us 
try.  Let  every  man  among  us  do  his  duty. 

And  suppose  New  England  stands  alone  in  these 
efforts ;  suppose  Massachusetts  stands  alone  :  is  it  not  a 
noble  isolation  ?  Is  it  not  the  post  of  honor  ?  Is  it  not 


158  THE  WRONG  OF  SLAVERY. 

the  position  where  she  will  find  companionship  with  all 
that  is  great  and  generous  in  the  past,  —  with  all  the 
disciples  of  truth,  of  right,  of  liberty  ?  It  has  not  been 
her  wont  on  former  occasions  to  inquire  whether  she 
should  stand  alone.  Your  honored  ancestor,  Mr.  Chair 
man,  who  from  these  walls  regards  our  proceedings  to 
night,  did  not  ask  whether  Massachusetts  would  be 
alone,  when  she  commenced  that  opposition  which  ended 
in  the  independence  of  the  Thirteen  Colonies. 

But  we  cannot  fail  to  accomplish  great  good.  It  is 
in  obedience  to  a  prevailing  law  of  Providence,  that  no 
act  of  self-sacrifice,  of  devotion  to  duty,  of  humanity 
can  fail.  It  stands  forever  as  a  landmark,  from  which 
at  least  to  make  a  new  effort.  Future  champions  of 
equal  rights  and  human  brotherhood  will  derive  new 
strength  from  these  exertions. 

Let  Massachusetts,  then,  be  aroused.  Let  all  her 
children  be  summoned  to  this  holy  cause.  There  are 
questions  of  ordinary  politics  in  which  men  may  re 
main  neutral ;  but  neutrality  now  is  treason  to  liberty, 
to  humanity,  and  to  the  fundamental  principles  of 
free  institutions.  Let  her  united  voice,  with  the  ac 
cumulated  echoes  of  freedom  that  fill  this  ancient 
hall,  go  forth  with  comfort  and  cheer  to  all  who  labor 
in  the  same  cause  everywhere  throughout  the  land. 
Let  it  help  to  confirm  the  wavering,  and  to  reclaim 
those  who  have  erred  from  the  right  path.  Especially 
may  it  exert  a  proper  influence  in  Congress  upon  the 
representatives  of  the  Free  States.  May  it  serve  to 
make  them  as  firm  in  the  defence  of  Freedom  as  their 
opponents  are  pertinacious  in  the  cause  of  Slavery. 

Massachusetts  must  continue  foremost  in  the  cause  of 
Freedom  ;  nor  can  her  children  yield  to  deadly  dalliance 


THE   WRONG   OF   SLAVERY.  159 

with  Slavery.  They  must  resist  at  all  times,  and  be  fore 
armed  against  the  fatal  influence.  There  is  a  story  of  the 
magnetic  mountain  which  drew  out  the  iron  bolts  of  a 
ship,  though  at  a  great  distance.  Slavery  is  such  a  moun 
tain,  and  too  often  draws  out  the  iron  bolts  of  represen 
tatives.  There  is  another  story  of  the  Norwegian  mael 
strom,  which,  after  sucking  a  ship  into  its  vortex,  whirls 
the  victim  round  and  round  until  it  is  dashed  in  pieces. 
Slavery  is  such  a  maelstrom.  Representatives  must 
continue  safe  and  firm,  notwithstanding  magnetic  moun 
tain  or  maelstrom.  But  this  can  be  only  by  following 
those  principles  for  which  Massachusetts  is  renowned. 

A  precious  incident  in  the  life  of  one  whom  our  coun 
try  has  delighted  to  honor  furnishes  an  example  for 
imitation.  When  Napoleon,  already  at  the  pinnacle 
of  military  honor,  but  lusting  for  perpetuity  of  power, 
caused  a  vote  to  be  taken  on  the  question,  whether  he 
should  be  First  Consul  for  life,  Lafayette,  at  that  time 
in  retirement,  and  only  recently,  by  his  intervention, 
liberated  from  the  dungeons  of  Olmiitz,  deliberately 
registered  his  No.  Afterwards  revisiting  our  shores,  the 
scene  of  his  youthful  devotion  to  freedom,  and  receiving 
on  all  sides  that  beautiful  homage  of  thanksgiving  which 
is  of  itself  an  all-sufficient  answer  to  the  sarcasm  that 
republics  are  ungrateful,  here  in  Boston,  this  illustrious 
Frenchman  listened  with  especial  pride  to  the  felicitation 
addressed  to  him  as  "  the  man  who  knew  so  well  how 
to  say  No"  Be  this  the  example  for  Massachusetts ; 
and  may  it  be  among  her  praises  hereafter,  that  on 
this  occasion  she  knew  so  well  how  to  say  NO ! 


EQUAL  RIGHTS  IN  THE  LECTURE-ROOM. 

LETTER  TO  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  NEW  BEDFORD  LYCEUM, 
NOVEMBER  29,  1845. 


After  accepting  an  invitation  to  lecture  before  the  Lyceum  at  New 
Bedford,  Mr.  Suinner,  learning  that  colored  persons  were  denied  mem 
bership  and  equal  opportunities  with  white  persons,  refused  to  lecture, 
as  appears  in  the  following  Letter,  which  was  published  in  the  papers  of 
the  time. 

Shortly  afterwards  the  obnoxious  rule  waa  rescinded,  and  Mr.  Sum- 
ner  lectured. 

BOSTON,  November  29,  1846. 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  received  your  favor  of 
November  24,  asking  me  to  appoint  an  evening  in 
February  or  March  to  lecture  before  the  New  Bedford 
Lyceum,  in  pursuance  of  my  promise. 

On  receiving  the  invitation  of  your  Lyceum,  I  felt 
flattered,  and,  in  undertaking  to  deliver  a  lecture  at  some 
time,  to  be  appointed  afterwards,  I  promised  myself 
peculiar  pleasure  in  an  occasion  of  visiting  a  town  which 
I  had  never  seen,  but  whose  refined  hospitality  and  lib 
eral  spirit,  as  described  to  me,  awakened  my  warmest 
interest. 

Since  then  I  have  read  in  the  public  prints  a  protest, 
purporting  to  be  by  gentlemen  well  known  to  me  by 
reputation,  who  are  members  of  the  Lyceum,  and  some 
of  them  part  of  its  government,  from  which  it  appears 
that  in  former  years  tickets  of  admission  were  freely 
sold  to  colored  persons,  as  to  white  persons,  and  that  no 


EQUAL   EIGHTS   IN   THE   LECTURE-ROOM,  161 

objection  was  made  to  them  as  members,  but  that  at  the 
present  time  tickets  are  refused  to  colored  persons,  and 
membership  is  also  refused  practically,  though,  by  spe 
cial  vote  recently  adopted,  they  are  allowed  to  attend 
the  lectures  without  expense,  provided  they  will  sit  in 
the  north  gallery. 

From  these  facts  it  appears  that  the  New  Bedford  Ly 
ceum  has  undertaken  within  its  jurisdiction  to  establish 
a  distinction  of  Caste  not  recognized  before. 

One  of  the  cardinal  truths  of  religion  and  freedom  is 
the  Equality  and  Brotherhood  of  Man.  In  the  sight  of 
God  and  of  all  just  institutions  the  white  man  can  claim 
no  precedence  or  exclusive  privilege  from  his  color.  It 
is  the  accident  of  an  accident  that  places  a  human  soul 
beneath  the  dark  shelter  of  an  African  countenance, 
rather  than  beneath  our  colder  complexion.  Nor  can  I 
conceive  any  application  of  the  divine  injunction,  Do 
unto  others  as  you  would  have  them  do  unto  you, 
more  pertinent  than  to  the  man  who  founds  a  discrimi 
nation  between  his  fellow-men  on  difference  of  skin. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  prejudice  of  color,  which 
is  akin  to  the  stern  and  selfish  spirit  that  holds  a 
fellow-man  in  slavery,  is  peculiar  to  our  country.  It 
does  not  exist  in  other  civilized  countries.  In  France 
colored  youths  at  college  have  gained  the  highest  hon 
ors,  and  been  welcomed  as  if  they  were  white.  At 
the  Law  School  there  I  have  sat  with  them  on  the  same 
benches.  In  Italy  I  have  seen  an  Abyssinian  mingling 
with  monks,  and  there  was  no  apparent  suspicion  on 
either  side  of  anything  open  to  question.  All  this  was 
Christian  :  so  it  seemed  to  me. 

In  lecturing  before  a  Lyceum  which  has  introduced 
the  prejudice  of  color  among  its  laws,  and  thus  formal- 


162  EQUAL  EIGHTS  IN  THE  LECTURE-ROOM. 

ly  reversed  an  injunction  of  highest  morals  and  politics, 
I  might  seem  to  sanction  what  is  most  alien  to  my  soul, 
and  join  in  disobedience  to  that  command  which 
teaches  that  the  children  of  earth  are  all  of  one  blood. 
I  cannot  do  this. 

I  beg,  therefore,  to  be  excused  at  present  from  ap 
pointing  a  day  to  lecture  before  your  Lyceum ;  and  I 
pray  you  to  lay  this  letter  before  the  Lyceum,  that  the 
ground  may  be  understood  on  which  I  deem  it  my  duty 
to  decline  the  honor  of  appearing  before  them. 

I  hope  you  will  pardon  the  frankness  of  this  commu 
nication,  and  believe  me,  my  dear  Sir, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  i 
of  the  New  Bedford  Lyceum,      \ 


PRISONS  AND  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.' 

ARTICLE  FROM  THE  CHRISTIAN  EXAMINER,  JANUARY,  1846. 


IT  is  with  a  feeling  of  deference  that  we  welcome 
Miss  Dix's  "  Eemarks  on  Prisons  and  Prison  Disci 
pline."  Her  peculiar  labors  for  humanity,  and  her 
renunciation  of  the  refined  repose  which  has  such  at 
tractions  for  her  sex,  to  go  about  doing  good,  enduring 
the  hardships  of  travel,  the  vicissitudes  of  the  chang- 

*  1.  Remarks  on  Prisons  and  Prison  Discipline  in  the  United  Stales.  By 
D.  L.  Dix.  Second  Edition.  Philadelphia.  1845.  8vo.  pp.  108. 

2.  Nineteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Prison  Dis 
cipline  Society.  Boston.  1844.  8vo.  pp.  116. 

8.  Prisons  and  Prisoners.  By  JOSEPH  ADSHEAD.  With  Illustrations. 
London.  1845.  8vo.  pp.  320. 

4.  Report  of  the  Surveyor -General  of  Prisons  on  the  Construction,  Ventila 
tion,  and  Details  of  the  Pentonville  Prison.  London.  1844.  fol.  pp.  30. 

6.  Revue  Penitentiaire  des  Institutions  Preventives,  sous  la  Direction  de  M. 
MOREAU-CHRISTOPHE.  Tom.  II.  Paris.  1845.  8vo.  pp.  659. 

6.  Du  Projet  de  Loi  sur  la  Reforme  des  Prisons.    Par  M.  LE"ON  FAUCHER. 
Paris.    1844.    8vo. 

7.  Considerations  sur  la  Reclusion  Individuelle  des  Detenus.    Par  W.  H. 
SURINGAR.    Traduit  du  Hollandais  sur  la  seconde  Efdition.    Pre'ce'de'es  d'une 
Preface,  et  suivies  du  Re'sume'  de  la  Question  Penitentiaire,  par  L.  M.  MO 
REAU-CHRISTOPHE.     Paris  et  Amsterdam.     1843.     8vo.    pp.  131. 

8.  Nordamerikas   Sittliche    Zustdnde.      (The  Moral   Condition  of  North 
America.)    Von  Dr.  N.  H.  JULIUS.    2  Biinde.    Leipzig.    1839.    8vo. 

9.  Archiv  des  Criminalrechts,  herausyegeben  von  den  Professoren  ABEOO, 
BIRNBAUM,  HEFFTER,  MITTERMAIER,  WACHTER,  ZACHARIA.    (Archives 
of  Criminal  Law,  edited  by  Professors  ABEGO,  etc.)    Halle.    1843.    12mo. 
pp.  697. 


164  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

ing  season,  and,  more  trying  still,  the  coldness  of  the 
world,  awaken  towards  her  a  sense  of  gratitude,  and 
invest  her  name  with  an  interest  which  must  attach 
to  anything  from  her  pen. 

The  chosen  and  almost  exclusive  sphere  of  woman  is 
home,  in  the  warmth  of  the  family  hearth.  Rarely  is  she 
able  to  mingle  with  effect  in  the  active  labors  which 
influence  mankind.  With  incredulity  we  admire  the 
feminine  expounder  of  the  Roman  law,  illustrating  by 
her  lectures  the  Universities  of  Padua  and  Bologna,  — 
and  the  charities  of  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary  are  leg 
endary  in  the  dim  distance ;  though,  in  our  own  day, 
the  classical  productions  of  the  widow  of  Wyttenbach, 
crowned  Doctor  of  Philosophy  by  the  University  of 
Marburg,  and  most  especially  the  beautiful  labors  of 
Mrs.  Fry,  recently  closed  by  death,  are  examples  of  the 
sway  exerted  by  the  gentler  sex  beyond  the  charmed 
circle  of  domestic  life.  Among  these  Miss  Dix  will 
receive  a  place  which  her  modesty  would  forbid  her  to 
claim.  Her  name  will  be  enrolled  among  benefactors. 
It  will  be  pronounced  with  gratitude,  when  heroes  in 
the  strifes  of  politics  and  of  war  are  disregarded  or  for 
gotten. 

"  Can  we  forget  the  generous  few 
Who,  touched  with  human  woe,  redressive  sought 
Into  the  horrors  of  the  gloomy  jail, 
Unpitied  and  unheard,  where  misery  moans, 
Where  sickness  pines  ?  " 

Miss  Dix's  labors  embrace  penitentiaries,  jails,  alms- 
houses,  poor-houses,  and  asylums  for  the  insane,  through 
out  the  Northern  and  Middle  States,  —  all  of  which  she 
has  visited,  turning  a  face  of  gentleness  towards  crime, 
comforting  the  unfortunate,  softening  a  hard  lot,  sweet 
ening  a  bitter  cup,  while  she  obtained  information  of 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  165 

their  condition  calculated  to  awaken  the  attention  of 
the  public.  This  labor  of  love  she  has  pursued  ear 
nestly,  devotedly,  sparing  neither  time  nor  strength,  neg 
lecting  no  person,  abject  or  lowly,  frequenting  the  cells 
of  all,  and  by  word  and  deed  seeking  to  strengthen  their 
hearts.  The  melody  of  her  voice  still  sounds  in  our 
ears,  as,  standing  in  the  long  corridor  of  the  Philadelphia 
Penitentiary,  she  read  a  Psalm  of  consolation ;  nor  will 
that  scene  be  effaced  quickly  from  the  memory  of  any 
then  present.  Her  Memorials,  addressed  to  the  Legis 
latures  of  different  States,  have  divulged  a  mass  of  facts, 
derived  from  personal  and  most  minute  observation, 
particularly  with  regard  to  the  treatment  of  the  insane, 
which  must  arouse  the  sensibilities  of  a  humane  people. 
In  herself  alone  she  is  a  whole  Prison  Discipline  So 
ciety.  To  her  various  efforts  may  be  applied,  without 
exaggeration,  those  magical  words  in  which  Burke  com 
memorated  the  kindred  charity  of  Howard,  when  he 
says  that  he  travelled,  "not  to  survey  the  sumptuous- 
ness  of  palaces  or  the  stateliness  of  temples,  not  to 
make  accurate  measurements  of  the  remains  of  ancient 
grandeur  nor  to  form  a  scale  of  the  curiosity  of  mod 
ern  art,  not  to  collect  medals  or  collate  manuscripts, 
but  to  dive  into  the  depths  of  dungeons,  to  plunge 
into  the  infection  of  hospitals,  to  survey  the  man 
sions  of  sorrow  and  pain,  to  take  the  gauge  and  dimen 
sions  of  misery,  depression,  and  contempt,  to  remember 
the  forgotten,  to  attend  to  the  neglected,  to  visit  the 
forsaken,  and  to  compare  and  collate  the  distresses  of 
all  men." 

Her  "  Eemarks  "  contain  general  results  on  different 
points  connected  with  the  discipline  of  prisons  :  as, 
the  duration  of  sentences  ;  pardons  and  the  pardoning 


166  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

power ;  diet  of  prisoners ;  water ;  clothing  ;  ventilation ; 
heat ;  health  ;  visitors'  fees  ;  dimensions  of  lodging-cells 
in  the  State  penitentiaries  ;  moral,  religious,  and  general 
instruction  in  prisons;  reformation  of  prisoners;  peni 
tentiary  systems  of  the  United  States ;  and  houses  of 
refuge  for  juvenile  offenders.  It  would  be  interesting 
and  instructive  to  examine  the  conclusions  on  all  these 
important  topics  having  the  sanction  of  her  disinter 
ested  experience ;  but  our  limits  restrict  us,  on  the 
present  occasion,  to  a  single  topic. 

We  are  disposed  to  take  advantage  of  the  interest 
Miss  Dix's  publication  may  excite,  and  also  of  her  name, 
which  is  an  authority,  to  say  a  few  words  on  a  question 
much  agitated,  and  already  the  subject  of  many  books, 
—  the  comparative  merits  of  what  are  called  the  Penn 
sylvania  and  Auburn  Penitentiary  Systems.  This  ques 
tion  is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  of  all  that  grow  out 
of  Prisons ;  for  it  affects,  in  a  measure,  all  others.  It 
involves  both  the  construction  of  the  prison,  and  its 
administration. 

The  subject  of  Prison  Discipline,  and  particularly  the 
question  between  the  two  systems,  has  of  late  years  oc 
cupied  the  attention  of  jurists  and  philanthropists  in  no 
ordinary  degree.  The  discussion  has  been  conducted  in 
all  the  languages  of  Europe,  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
titles  alone  of  the  works  would  occupy  considerable 
space  in  a  volume  of  Bibliography.  "We  have  before 
us,  for  instance,  a  list  of  no  less  than  eleven  in  Italian. 
But  we  must  go  back  to  the  last  century,  if  we  would 
trace  the  origin  of  the  controversy. 

To  Howard,  a  man  of  true  greatness,  whose  name 
will  stand  high  on  the  roll  of  the  world's  benefactors, 
belongs  the  signal  honor  of  first  awakening  the  sympa- 


PRISONS  AND   PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  167 

thies  of  the  English  people  in  this  work  of  benevolence. 
By  his  travels  and  labors  he  became  familiar  with  the 
actual  character  of  prisons,  and  was  enabled  to  spread 
before  the  public  an  accumulation  of  details  which  fill 
the  reader  with  horror  and  disgust.  The  condition  of 
prisons  at  that  time  in  England  was  appalling.  Of 
course  there  was  no  system ;  nor  was  there  any  civil 
ization  in  the  treatment  of  prisoners.  Everything  was 
bad.  As  there  was  no  care,  so  there  was  no  cleanliness, 
on  which  so  much  depends,  and  there  was  no  classifica 
tion  or  separation  of  any  kind.  All  commingled,  so 
that  the  uncleanness  of  one  befouled  all,  and  the  wick 
edness  of  one  contaminated  all.  While  this  continued, 
all  hope  of  reform  was  vain.  Therefore,  with  especial 
warmth,  Howard  pleaded  for  the  separation  of  prisoners, 
especially  at  night,  "  wishing  to  have  so  many  small 
rooms  or  cabins  that  each  criminal  may  sleep  alone," 1 
and  called  attention  to  the  fact  he  had  observed  in  Hol 
land,  that  "  in  most  of  the  prisons  for  criminals  there 
are  so  many  rooms  that  each  prisoner  is  kept  sepa 
rate."2 

The  importance  of  the  principle  of  separation  was 
first  recognized  at  Rome,  as  long  ago  as  1703,  by  Clem 
ent  XI.,  in  the  foundation  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  Michael, 
or  the  House  of  Refuge,  where  a  separate  dormitory 
was  provided  for  each  prisoner.  Over  the  portal  of 
this  asylum,  in  letters  of  gold,  were  inscribed  the  words 
of  wisdom  which  Howard  adopted  as  the  motto  of  his 
labors,  and  which  indicate  the  spirit  that  should  preside 
over  the  administration  of  all  prisons :  Parum  est  im- 
prdbos  coercere  pcena,  nisi  probos  efficias  disciplina,  —  It 
is  of  small  consequence  to  coerce  the  wicked  by  pun- 

l  Howard,  State  of  the  Prisons,  p.  22.  *  Ibid.  p.  46. 


168  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

ishment,  unless  you  make  them  good  by  discipline. 
The  first  and  most  important  step  in  this  discipline  is 
to  remove  prisoners  from  all  evil  influence, — which  can 
be  done  only  by  separation  from  each  other,  and  by 
filling  their  time  with  labor. 

In  furtherance  of  this  principle,  and  that  he  might 
reduce  it  to  practice,  Howard,  in  conjunction  with  Sir 
William  Blackstone,  as  early  as  1779,  drew  an  Act  of 
Parliament,  the  preamble  to  the  fifth  section  of  which 
is  an  enunciation  of  the  cardinal  truth  at  the  founda 
tion  of  all  effective  prison  discipline. 

"  Whereas,"  says  the  Act,  "  if  many  offenders,  con 
victed  of  crimes  for  which  transportation  hath  been 
usually  inflicted,  were  ordered  to  solitary  imprisonment, 
accompanied  by  well-regulated  labor  and  religious  instruc 
tion,  it  might  be  the  means,  under  Providence,  not  only 
of  deterring  others  from  the  commission  of  the  like 
crimes,  but  also  of  reforming  the  individuals,"  etc.  No 
ble  words !  Here,  for  the  first  time  in  English  legislation, 
the  reformation  of  the  prisoner  is  proposed  as  a  distinct 
object.  This  Act,  though  passed,  was  unfortunately 
never  carried  into  execution,  through  the  perverseness, 
it  is  said,  of  one  of  the  persons  associated  with  Howard 
as  commissioner  for  erecting  a  suitable  prison. 

As  early  as  1790  a  law  was  passed  in  Pennsylvania, 
which  is  of  importance  in  the  history  of  this  subject, 
showing  appreciation  of  the  principle  of  seclusion 
with  labor.  In  the  preamble  it  is  declared,  that  pre 
vious  laws  for  the  punishment  of  criminals  had  failed 
of  success,  "  from  the  communication  with  each  other 
not  being  sufficiently  restrained  within  the  places  of 
confinement,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  addition  of  unre- 
mitted  solitude  to  laborious  employment,  as  far  as  it  can 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  169 

be  effected,  will  contribute  as  much  to  reform  as  to  de 
ter  " ;  and  the  Act  further  provides,  that  certain  persons 
shall  be  "  kept  separate  and  apart  from  each  other,  as 
much  as  the  convenience  of  the  building  will  admit." 
The  principle  of  separation,  when  first  announced  by 
Howard,  and  practically  attempted  in  Pennsylvania,  was 
imperfectly  understood.  It  was  easy  to  see  the  impor 
tance  of  separation  ;  but  how  should  it  be  applied  ?  In 
Pennsylvania  it  was  attempted  at  first  with  such  rigor 
as  to  justify  its  designation  as  the  Solitary  System. 
But  as  the  new  penitentiary  in  Philadelphia  was  about  to 
be  occupied,  a  law  was  passed  providing  that  after  July 
1st,  1829,  convicts  should,  "instead  of  the  penitentiary 
punishments  heretofore  prescribed,  be  sentenced  to  surfer 
punishment  by  separate  or  solitary  confinement  at  la 
bor  " ;  and  there  is  further  provision  for  "  visits  to  the 
prisoners."  Here  were  the  two  elements,  —  first,  of  la 
bor,  and,  secondly,  of  visits.  In  pursuance  of  this  Act, 
that  penitentiary  was  organized  at  Philadelphia  which 
afforded  the  first  example  on  an  extended  scale  of  the  ab 
solute  separation  of  convicts  from  each  other,  combined 
with  labor.  And  this  penitentiary  has  given  its  name 
to  the  class  of  prisons  founded  on  this  principle. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  system  is  dis 
tinguishable  from  one  of  solitary  confinement  with  labor, 
—  much  more  from  one  of  mere  solitary  confinement 
without  labor.  An  intemperate  opponent,  too  rash  or 
prejudiced  to  recognize  all  the  truth,  has  often  charac 
terized  the  present  Pennsylvania  system  as  the  Solitary 
System,  and  by  this  term  not  unfrequently  aroused  a 
feeling  against  it  which  must  disappear  before  a  candid 
inquiry.  It  is  easy  to  condemn  any  system  of  absolute 
solitude  without  solace  of  labor  or  society.  The  exara- 

VOL.    I.  8 


170  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

pies  of  history  rise  in  judgment  against  such.  Who  can 
forget  the  Bastile  ?  We  have  the  testimony  of  Lafay 
ette,  whose  own  further  experience  at  Olmiitz  should 
not  be  neglected,  as  to  its  effect.  "I  repaired  to  the 
scene,"  he  says,  "  on  the  second  day  of  the  demolition, 
and  found  that  all  the  prisoners  had  been  deranged  by 
their  solitary  confinement,  except  one.  He  had  been  a 
prisoner  twenty-five  years,  and  was  led  forth  during  the 
height  of  the  tumultuous  riot  of  the  people,  whilst  en 
gaged  in  tearing  down  the  building.  He  looked  around 
with  amazement,  for  he  had  seen  nobody  for  that  space 
of  time,  and  before  night  he  was  so  much  affected  that 
he  became  a  confirmed  maniac."  But  the  Bastile  is  not 
the  only  prison  whose  stones,  could  they  speak,  would 
tell  this  fearful  tale;  nor  is  Lafayette  the  only  re 
porter. 

Names  often  have  the  importance  of  things ;  and  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  ignorant  or  dishonest  appli 
cation  of  the  term  solitary  to  the  Pennsylvania  system 
is  a  strong  reason  for  the  opposition  it  has  encoun 
tered. 

The  Separate  System  has  but  one  essential  condition, 
— the  absolute  separation  of  prisoners  from  intercourse 
of  any  kind  with  each  other.  On  this  may  be  engrafted 
labor,  instruction,  and  even  constant  society  with  offi 
cers  of  the  prison,  or  witli  virtuous  persons.  In  fact, 
these  have  become,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  component 
parts  of  the  system.  In  constant  employment  the  pris 
oner  finds  peace,  and  in  the  society  with  which  he  is 
indulged  innocent  relaxation  and  healthy  influence. 
This  is  the  Pennsylvania  system. 

There  is  another  and  rival  system,  first  established  in 
the  Maison  de  Force  at  Ghent,  but  borrowing  its  name 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  171 

from  the  Auburn  Penitentiary  of  New  York,  where  it 
was  first  introduced  in  1816,  by  a  remarkable  discipli 
narian,  Elam  Lynds.  Here  the  prisoners  are  separated 
only  at  night,  each  sleeping  in  a  small  cell  or  dormitory 
by  himself.  During  the  day  they  labor  together  in 
shops,  or  in  the  open  air,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
work,  —  being  prohibited  from  speaking  to  each  other, 
under  pain  of  punishment.  From  the  latter  feature 
this  is  often  called  the  Silent  System.  As  its  chief 
peculiarity,  in  contradistinction  to  the  Separate  System, 
is  the  working  of  prisoners  in  assemblies,  where  all  see 
and  are  seen,  it  may  be  more  properly  designated  the 
Congregate  System. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  these  two  systems,  which,  it  will  be 
observed,  both  aim  at  the  same  object,  the  separation  of 
prisoners  so  that  they  can  have  no  intercourse  with  each 
other.  In  the  one  this  end  is  attained  by  their  physical 
separation  from  each  other  both  night  and  day ;  in  the 
other,  by  such  separation  at  night,  with  untiring  watch 
by  day  to  prevent  intercourse.  Of  course,  separation  by 
the  Congregate  system  is  less  complete  than  by  the  other. 
Conversation  by  words  may  be  restrained  ;  though  it  is 
now  admitted  that  no  guardian  can  be  sufficiently  watch 
ful  to  intercept  on  all  occasions  those  winged  messen 
gers.  The  extensive  unspoken,  unwritten  language  of 
signs,  the  expression  of  the  countenance,  the  movements 
of  the  body,  may  telegraph  from  convict  to  convict 
thoughts  of  stubbornness,  hatred,  or  revenge. 

If  separation  be  desirable,  should  it  not  be  complete  ? 
Should  not  the  conducting  wires  be  broken,  so  that  no 
electrical  spark  may  propagate  its  disturbing  force  ? 
But  the  very  pains  taken  in  the  Congregate  system  to 
insure  silence  by  day  and  separation  by  night  answer 


172  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

this  question.  Thus,  by  strange  inconsistency,  t  e  advo 
cates  of  the  Congregate  system  seek  to  entbre  sei  iration. 
Wedded  to  an  imperfect  practice,  they  recognize  the 
correct  principle. 

Before  proceeding  farther  with  this  comparison  it  is 
proper  to  glance  at  the  real  objects  of  prison  discipline, 
that  we  may  be  better  enabled  to  determine  which  sys 
tem  is  best  calculated  to  answer  these  objects. 

Three  things  are  proposed  by  every  enlightened  sys 
tem  :  first,  to  deter  others  from  crime ;  secondly,  to 
prevent  the  offender  from  preying  again  upon  society ; 
thirdly,  discipline  and  care,  so  far  as  possible  to  promote 
reformation.  There  are  grounds  for  belief  that  the  first 
two  purposes  are  best  attained  by  the  Separate  system ; 
but  without  considering  these  particularly,  let  us  pass 
to  the  question,  Which  is  best  calculated  to  perform  that 
truly  heavenly  function  of  reforming  the  offender  ? 

Is  not  the  answer  prompt  and  decisive  in  favor  of 
that  system  which  most  completely  protects  the  prison 
er  from  the  pernicious  influence  of  brethren  in  guilt  ? 
It  is  a  venerable  proverb,  that  a  man  is  known  by  the 
company  he  keeps  ;  and  this  is  a  homely  expression  of 
the  truth,  that  the  character  of  a  man  is  naturally  in 
harmony  with  those  about  him.  If  the  society  about 
him  is  virtuous,  his  own  virtues  will  be  confirmed  and 
expanded  ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  it  be  wicked,  then 
will  the  demon  of  his  nature  be  aroused.  Bad  qualities, 
as  well  as  good,  are  quickened  and  strengthened  under 
the  influence  of  society.  Every  association  of  prison 
ers  must  pervert,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  but  can  never 
reform,  those  of  whom  it  is  composed.  The  obdurate 
offender,  perpetually  brooding  on  evil,  even  though  he 
utter  no  audible  word,  will  impart  to  the  congregation 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  173 

something  of  his  own  hardness  of  heart.  Are  we  not 
told  by^.iie  poet,  that  sheep  and  swine  take  contagion 
from  one  of  their  number,  and  even  a  grape  is  spoiled 
by  another  grape  ? 

"  Dedit  hanc  contagio  labem, 
Et  dabit  in  plures ;  sicut  grex  totus  in  agris 
Unius  scabie  cadit,  et  porrigine  porci, 
Uvaque  conspecta  livorem  ducit  ab  uva."  l 

From  the  inherent  nature  of  things,  this  contagion 
must  be  propagated  by  the  Congregate  system,  while 
the  Separate  system  does  all  that  man  can  do  to  restrain 
it.  By  the  latter,  as  successfully  administered,  the  pris 
oner  is,  in  the  first  place,  withdrawn,  so  far  as  possible 
by  human  means,  from  all  bad  influences,  while,  in  the 
second  place,  he  is  brought  under  the  operation  of  good 
influences.  The  mind  is  naturally  diverted  from  thick- 
coming  schemes  of  crime,  and  turned  to  thoughts  of 
virtue.  What  in  it  is  bad,  if  not  entirely  subdued,  is 
weakened  by  inactivity,  while  the  good  is  prompted  to 
constant  exercise. 

It  cannot  be  questioned,  then,  on  grounds  of  reason, 
independent  of  experience,  that  the  Separate  system  is 
better  calculated  to  promote  that  great  object  of  Prison 
Discipline,  the  reformation  of  the  offender.  With  this 
recommendation  alone  it  would  be  entitled  to  the  re 
gard  of  all  who  feel  that  the  return  of  a  single  sinner 
is  blessed. 

But  a  further  object  is  secured.  As  the  prisoners 
never  see  one  another,  they  leave  the  penitentiary,  at 
the  expiration  of  their  punishment,  literally  unknowing 
and  unknown.  In  illustration  of  this  fact,  the  delightful 
incident  is  mentioned,  that  the  keeper  of  the  Philadel 
phia  Penitentiary  once  recognized  three  persons  at  the 

l  Juv.,  Sat.  II.  78  -  81. 


174  PRISONS  AND  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

same  place,  engaged  in  honest  labor,  who  had  been  in  his 
custody  as  convicts,  though  neither  knew  the  career  of  the 
other  two.  Discharged  prisoners  are  thus  enabled  to  slide 
back  into  the  community,  without  the  chilling  fear  of 
untimely  recognition  by  those  with  whom  they  congre 
gated  in  the  penitentiary.  They  cannot  escape  the 
memory  of  the  punishment  they  have  endured ;  but  the 
brand  is  not  upon  the  forehead.  They  are  encouraged 
to  honest  exertion  by  the  hope  of  retrieving,  on  a  distant 
spot  and  under  a  new  name,  the  fair  character  they  have 
lost ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if  evil-minded,  they  have 
no  associations  of  the  prison  to  renew,  or  to  stimulate  to 
conspiracy  against  society. 

A  system  of  Prison  Discipline  with  these  benign  fea 
tures  must  long  ago  have  commended  itself  to  general 
acceptance,  if  it  had  not  been  opposed  with  exceptional 
ardor  on  grounds  which,  though  in  reality  little  tena 
ble,  are  calculated  to  exercise  influence  over  the  igno 
rance  and  prejudice  of  men. 

The  first  objection  is,  that  it  is  productive  of  insan 
ity,  from  an  unnatural  deprivation  of  society.  Howe'v- 
er  just  this  may  be  when  directed  against  the  Solitary 
system,  it  is  inapplicable  to  what  is  called  the  Separate 
system,  which  does  not  exclude  the  idea  of  society,  and, 
as  practically  administered  at  Philadelphia  and  else 
where,  supplies  both  society  and  labor  in  ample  meas 
ure.  If  the  prisoner  is  not  indulged  with  society  enough, 
it  is  a  fault  in  the  administration  of  the  system,  and  not 
in  the  system  itself.  In  the  publications  of  the  Boston 
Prison  Discipline  Society,  elaborate  tables  have  been 
arranged  showing  a  tendency  to  insanity  in  the  Peniten 
tiary  at  Philadelphia;  but  careful  and  candid  inquiry 
will  demonstrate  that  these  are  founded  in  misapprehen- 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  175 

sion,  and  will  exonerate  that  institution  from  such  im 
putation.  The  highest  authorities  in  medicine  have  dis 
tinctly  declared,  that  the  Separate  system,  if  properly 
administered,  with  labor  and  conversation,  does  not  af 
fect  the  reason.  The  names  of  Esquirol  and  Louis  give 
to  this  opinion  the  strongest  sanction  of  science  through 
out  the  civilized  world.  The  same  conclusion  was  af 
firmed  with  precision  and  fervor  by  Lelut,  in  an  elaborate 
memoir  before  the  Institute  of  France,  and  also  by  the 
Scientific  Congress  assembled  at  Padua  in  1843,  and  at 
Lucca  in  1844. 

The  second  objection  charges  the  Separate  system 
with  being  unfavorable  to  health,  as  compared  with  the 
Congregate  system.  In  reply  we  merely  say,  that  the 
great  names  in  medicine  to  which  we  have  already  re 
ferred  expressly  deny  that  it  has  any  influence  in  short 
ening  life ;  while  a  statistical  comparison  of  several  pen 
itentiaries  conducted  on  the  Congregate  system  with 
the  Philadelphia  Penitentiary  attests  the  superiority  of 
the  latter  in  this  respect. 

The  third  and  last  objection  is  founded  on  the  in 
creased  expense  of  the  Separate  system.  The  Congre 
gate  system  is  recommended  by  suggestions  of  economy 
and  clamors  of  cupidity.  It  is  said  to  be  put  into 
operation  at  less  cost,  and  afterwards  to  support  itself, 
and  even  to  bring  profit  to  the  State.  We  are  sorry 
to  believe  that  this  consideration  has  had  an  exten 
sive  influence.  It  is  humiliating  to  suppose  that  Gov 
ernment  would  hesitate  to  adopt  a  system  founded  on 
enlightened  humanity  because  another  might  be  had 
for  less  money, — counting  the  unworthy  gain  or  the 
petty  economy  as  of  higher  consequence  than  the  ref 
ormation  of  an  offender.  Such  a  course  were  unworthy 


176  PRISONS  AND  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

of  our  civilization.  The  State  has  sacred  duties  to 
the  unfortunate  men  it  takes  into  its  custody.  It 
must  see  not  'only  that  they  receive  no  harm,  but 
that  they  enjoy  all  means  of  improvement  consistent 
with  their  condition,  —  that,  while  their  bodies  are 
clothed  and  fed,  their  souls  are  not  left  naked  and  hun 
gry.  It  assumes  the  place  of  parent,  and  owes  a  parent's 
care  and  kindness ;  or  rather,  when  we  consider  that  the 
State  itself  is  child  of  the  people,  may  we  not  say  that 
it  should  emulate  that  famous  Roman  charity,  so  often 
illustrated  by  Art,  which  descended  into  the  darkness 
of  a  dungeon,  to  afford  an  exuberant,  health-giving 
bosom  to  the  exhausted  being  from  whom  it  drew  its 
own  life. 

Notwithstanding  the  uncompromising  hostility  the 
Separate  system  has  encountered,  it  wins  constant  favor. 
Many  prisons  are  built  on  this  plan,  and  experience 
comes  to  confirm  the  suggestions  of  humanity  and  sci 
ence.  The  Penitentiary  at  Philadelphia,  which  first 
proved  its  superiority,  was  followed  in  1833  by  one 
at  Pittsburg  and  by  a  County  Prison  at  Alleghany, 
and  in  1841  by  another  County  Prison,  on  the  same 
system,  at  Harrisburg.  In  1834  New  Jersey  followed 
the  example  of  her  neighbor  State,  and  established  a 
penitentiary  on  this  system  at  Trenton. 

Commissions  from  foreign  governments,  after  visiting 
the  different  prisons  of  the  United  States,  have  all  re 
ported  emphatically  in  favor  of  the  Separate  system :  as, 
that  of  Beaumont  and  De  Tocqueville  to  the  French 
Government,  in  1831 ;  of  Mr.  Crawford  to  the  English, 
in  1834 ;  of  Dr.  Julius  to  the  Prussian,  in  1836,  after 
a  most  careful  perambulation  of  all  the  prisons  of  the 
country ;  of  Demetz  and  Blouet  to  the  French,  in  1837, 


PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  177 

—  being  the  second  Commission  from  the  same  Gov 
ernment  ;  and  of  Neilson  and  Mondelet  to  the  Canadian 
Government,  in  1836. 

In  accordance  with  these  recommendations,  numerous 
prisons  have  been  built  or  are  now  building  in  Europe. 
In  England  a  model  prison  has  been  constructed  at  Pen- 
tonville,  which  is  perhaps  the  best  prison  in  the  world. 
In  the  late  Eeport  of  the  Surveyor-General  of  Prisons, 
laid  on  the  table  of  Parliament  during  its  last  session, 
it  was  expressly  declared,  from  the  experience  gained  in 
the  Pentonville  prison,  "  that  the  separation  of  one  pris 
oner  from  another  is  indispensable  as  the  basis  of  any 
sound  system."  As  long  ago  as  1843,  no  less  than  sev 
enteen  prisons  on  this  principle  were  built  or  building 
in  different  counties  of  England,  and  several  in  Scot 
land.  In  France  the  whole  subject  has  undergone  most 
thorough  discussion  by  the  press,  and  also  in  debate 
by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  Among  the  works  now 
before  us  is  a  volume  of  more  than  six  hundred  pages, 
filled  by  a  report  of  this  debate,  with  notes,  which 
ended  in  the  passage  of  a  law  during  the  last  summer 
appropriating  ninety  millions  of  francs  for  the  building 
of  thirty  prisons  on  the  Separate  system.  Such  is  the 
testimony  of  France  and  England. 

Similar  testimony  comes  from  other  quarters  :  from 
Prussia,  where  five  prisons  on  this  system  have  been 
built ;  from  Denmark,  where  ten  are  now  building ; 
from  Sweden,  where  eight  are  building  under  the  aus 
pices  of  the  monarch,  who,  when  Prince  Oscar,  wrote 
ably  in  advocacy  of  the  Separate  system ;  from  Norway, 
where  one  is  now  building  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chris- 
tiania;  from  Poland,  where  one  has  long  been  in  ex 
istence,  and  three  others  are  nearly  completed ;  from 
8*  r. 


178  PRISONS  AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

Hungary,  where  a  project  has  been  submitted  to  the 
Diet  for  the  erection  of  ten  on  the  Separate  system ; 
from  Holland,  where  one  is  about  to  be  erected  on  the 
plan  of  Pentonville ;  from  Belgium,  which  has  yielded 
to  the  Separate  system,  and  has  even  engrafted  it  upon 
the  famous  Maison  de  Force  at  Ghent,  the  model  of  our 
Auburn  Prison ;  from  the  Duchy  of  Nassau ;  from  the 
Grand  Duchy  of  Baden ;  from  Frankfort-on-the-Main ; 
from  Hamburg ;  from  Geneva,  in  Switzerland :  in  all 
of  which  prisons  on  this  system  are  built  or  are  build 
ing.  From  poor,  distracted  Spain  proceeds  the  same 
testimony. 

To  this  array  of  authorities  and  examples  may  be 
added  two  names  of  commanding  weight  in  all  matters  of 
Prison  Discipline,  —  Edward  Livingston  and  Miss  Dix. 
The  first,  whose  high  fortune  it  was  to  refine  jurispru 
dence  by  his  philanthropy,  as  he  had  illumined  it  by 
his  genius  and  strengthened  it  by  his  learning,  in  his 
Introductory  Report  to  the  Code  of  Prison  Discipline, 
as  long  ago  as  1827,  urged  with  classical  eloquence  a 
system  of  "  seclusion,  accompanied  by  moral,  religious, 
and  scientific  instruction,  and  useful  manual  labor." 
Miss  Dix,  after  attentive  survey  of  different  systems 
throughout  our  country,  fervently  enforces,  as  well  in 
the  publication  now  before  us  as  in  her  Memorials,  the 
merits  of  the  Separate  system,  and  of  its  administration 
in  Pennsylvania. 

It  might  be  said  that  the  voices  of  civilized  nations, 
by  a  rare  harmony,  concurred  in  sanctioning  the  Sepa 
rate  system,  if  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society  had 
not  raised  a  persistent  note  of  discord,  which  has  gone 
on  with  a  most  unmusical  crescendo.  As  the  solitary 
champion  of  an  imperfect  system  which  the  world  is 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  179 

renouncing,  it  has  contended  with  earnestness,  which 
has  often  become  prejudice,  and  with  insensibility  to 
accumulating  facts,  which  was  injustice.  With  frank 
ness,  as  with  sorrow,  we  allude  to  the  sinister  influence 
it  has  exercised  over  this  question,  particularly  through 
out  the  Northern  States.  But  the  truth  which  has  been 
proclaimed  abroad  need  not  be  delicately  minced  at 
home.  We  do  not  join  with  the  recent  English  writer, 
who,  among  many  harsher  suggestions,  speaks  of  the 
"misrepresentation,"  the  "trickery,"  the  "imposture"1 
of  the  Society  or  its  agent,  —  nor  with  Moreau-Chris- 
tophe,  who  says,  "La  SociAtt  des  Prisons  d  Boston  a  jur6 
haine  d  mort  au  syst&me  de  Philadelphie" ;'*  for  we  know 
well  the  honesty  and  sincere  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
prisoners  which  animate  its  Secretary,  and  we  feel  per 
suaded  that  he  will  gladly  abandon  the  deadly  war 
which  he  wages  against  the  Separate  system,  when 
he  sees  it  as  it  is  now  regarded  by  the  science  and 
humanity  of  the  civilized  world.  But  we  feel  that  his 
exertions,  which  in  some  departments  of  Prison  Disci 
pline  have  been  productive  of  incalculable  good,  for 
which  his  memory  will  be  blessed,  on  this  important 
question  have  done  harm.  In  his  Eeports  he  has  never 
failed  to  present  all  the  evil  of  the  Separate  system, 
particularly  as  administered  in  Philadelphia,  sometimes 
even  drawing  upon  his  imagination  for  facts,  while  he 
has  carefully  withheld  the  testimony  in  its  favor.  This 
beneficent  system  and  its  meritorious  supporters  are 
held  up  to  obloquy,  and  the  wide  circle  that  confided 
implicitly  in  his  Reports  are  consigned  to  darkness 
with  regard  to  its  true  character  and  its  general  recep 
tion  abroad. 

1  Adshead,  pp  127, 129.  2  Revue  Pe"nitentiaire,  Tom.  II.  p.  589. 


180  PRISONS  AND   PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

One  of  the  most  strenuous  advocates  of  the  Separate 
system  at  the  present  moment,  whose  work  of  elaborate 
argument  and  detail  now  lies  before  us,  is  Surinam r, 
called  sometimes  the  Howard  of  Holland,  who  had  sig 
nalized  himself  by  previous  opposition  to  it.  He  says, 
"  I  am  now  completely  emancipated  from  my  former 
error.  This  error  I  do  not  blush  to  confess  openly.  The 
same  change  has  been  wrought  in  the  opinions  of  Julius 
in  Prussia,  of  Crawford  in  England,  of  Berenger  and 
Demetz  in  France,  and  of  all  men  of  good  faith,  who 
are  moved,  in  their  researches,  only  by  the  suggestions 
of  conscience,  unswayed  by  prejudice  or  pride  of  opin 
ion."  Perhaps  in  these  changes  of  opinion  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society  may  find 
an  example  which  he  will  not  be  unwilling  to  follow  ; 
and  it  may  be  for  us  to  welcome  him  as  a  cordial  fellow- 
laborer  in  the  conscientious  support  of  what  he  has  for 
a  long  period  most  conscientiously  attacked. 

From  this  rapid  survey  it  will  be  seen  that  our  con 
victions  and  sympathies  are  with  the  Separate  system. 
Nothing  in  Prison  Discipline  seems  clearer  than  the 
general  duty  of  removing  prisoners  from  the  corrupt 
ing  influence  of  association,  even  though  silent  But 
we  are  not  insensible  to  the  encouragement  and  succor 
which  prisoners  might  derive  from  companionship  with 
those  struggling  like  themselves.  It  was  ft  wise  remark 
of  the  English  Professor,  that  "students  are  the  best 
professors  to  each  other  "  ;  and  the  experience  of  Mrs. 
Farnham,  the  matron  of  the  female  convicts  at  Sing- 
Sing,  shows  that  this  same  principle  is  not  without  ita 
effect  even  among  classes  of  convicts.  Perhaps  the  Sep 
arate  system  might  be  modified,  so  as  to  admit  instruc 
tion  and  labor  together,  in  a  small  class,  selected  after  a 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  181 

probationary  period  of  separation,  as  specially  worthy 
of  this  indulgence  and  confidence.  Such  a  modification 
was  contemplated  and  recommended  by  Mr.  Livingston, 
and  would  seem  to  find  favor  with  Von  Raumer  in  his 
recent  work  on  America.  This  privilege  can  be  im 
parted  to  those  only  who  have  shown  themselves  so  ex 
emplary  that  their  society  seems  to  be  uncontaminating. 
But  it  remains  to  be  seen  whether  there  is  any  subtile 
alchemy  by  which  their  purity  may  be  determined,  so  as 
to  justify  a  departure  from  the  general  rule  of  separation. 
Finally,  we  would  commend  this  subject  to  the  at 
tention  of  all  In  the  language  of  Sir  Michael  Foster, 
a  judge  of  eminence  in  the  last  century,  "  No  rank  or 
condition  of  life,  no  uprightness  of  heart,  no  prudence 
or  circumspection  of  conduct,  should  teach  any  man  to 
conclude  that  he  may  not  one  day  be  deeply  interested 
in  these  researches."  There  are  considerations  of  self-in 
terest  which  may  move  those  who  do  not  incline  to  labor 
for  others,  unless  with  ultimate  advantage  to  themselves. 
But  all  of  true  benevolence,  and  justly  appreciating  the 
duties  of  the  State,  will  join  in  effort  for  the  poor  pris 
oner,  deriving  from  his  inferior  condition  new  motives 
to  action,  that  it  may  be  true  of  the  State,  as  of  law, 
that  the  very  least  feels  its  care,  as  the  greatest  is  not 
exempt  from  its  power.  In  the  progress  of  an  enlight 
ened  Prison  Discipline,  it  may  be  hoped  that  our  peni 
tentiaries  will  become  in  reality,  if  not  in  name,  Houses 
of  Reformation,  and  that  convicts  will  be  treated  with 
scrupulous  regard  for  their  well-being,  physical,  moral, 
and  intellectual,  to  the  end,  that,  when  they  are  allowed 
to  mingle  again  with  society,  they  may  feel  sympathy 
with  virtue  and  detestation  of  vice,  and,  when  wiser, 
may  be  better  men. 


182  PRISONS  AND  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

In  the  promotion  of  this  cause,  the  city  of  Boston  at 
this  moment  occupies  a  position  of  signal  advantage. 
It  lias  determined  to  erect  a  new  county  jail,  and  the 
plans  are  still  under  consideration.  It  is  easy  to  per 
ceive  that  the  plan  it  adopts  and  the  system  of  disci 
pline  it  recognizes  will  become  an  example.  No  nar 
row  prejudice  and  no  unworthy  economy  should  pre 
vent  the  example  from  being  such  as  becomes  a  city  of 
the  wealth,  refinement,  and  humanity  of  Boston.  It  is 
a  common  boast,  that  her  schools  and  various  institu 
tions  of  beneficence  are  the  best  in  the  world.  The 
prison  about  to  be  erected  should  share  this  boast.  Let 
it  be  the  best  in  the  world.  Let  it  be  the  model  prison, 
not  only  to  our  own  country,  but  to  other  countries. 
The  rule  of  separation,  considered  of  such  importance 
among  the  ripe  convicts  of  the  penitentiary,  is  of  greater 
necessity  still  in  a  prison  which  will  receive  before 
trial  both  innocent  and  guilty.  From  the  first  moment 
he  is  touched  by  the  hand  of  the  law,  the  prisoner 
should  be  cut  off  from  all  association,  by  word  or  sight, 
with  fellow-prisoners.  The  State,  as  his  temporary 
guardian,  mindful  of  his  weakness,  owes  him  this  pro 
tection  and  this  means  of  reformation. 

The  absolute  separation  of  prisoners,  so  that  they  can 
neither  see,  hear,  nor  touch  each  other,  is  the  pole-star 
of  Prison  Discipline.  It  is  the  Alpha,  or  beginning,  as 
the  reformation  of  the  offender  is  the  Omega,  or  the 
end.  It  is  this  principle,  when  properly  administered, 
which  irradiates  with  heavenly  light  even  the  darkness 
of  the  dungeon,  driving  far  away  the  intrusive  legion  of 
unclean  thoughts,  and  introducing  in  their  vacant  place 
the  purity  of  religion,  the  teachings  of  virtue,  the  solace 
of  society,  and  the  comfort  of  hope.  In  this  spirit  let 


PRISONS   AND   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  183 

us  build  our  prisons.  The  jail  will  no  longer  be  a 
charnel-house  of  living  men ;  the  cell  will  cease  to  be 
the  tomb  where  is  buried  what  is  more  precious  than 
the  body,  —  a  human  soul.  From  their  iron  gates  let  us 
erase  that  doom  of  despair, 

"  All  hope  abandon,  ye  who  enter  in," 

and  inscribe  words  of  gentleness,  encouragement,  love. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

LECTURE  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  LYCEUM,  DELIVERED  IN  THE  FEDERAL 
STREET  THEATRE,  FEBRUARY  18,  1846. 


"  T  HAVE  lost  a  day,"  was  the  exclamation  of  the  vir- 
J_  tuous  Eoman  Emperor,  —  "  for  on  this  day  I  have 
done  no  good  thing."  The  Arch  of  Titus  still  stands 
midway  between  the  Forum  and  the  Colosseum,  and 
the  curious  traveller  discerns  the  golden  candlesticks  of 
conquered  Judaea  sculptured  on  its  marble  sides ;  but 
this  monument  of  triumph,  and  the  memory  it  perpet 
uates  of  the  veteran  legions  of  Rome  and  the  twenty 
cohorts  of  allies  before  whose  swords  the  sacred  city 
yielded  its  life  in  terrible  fire  and  blood,  give  not  to 
the  conqueror  such  true  glory  as  springs  from  these 
words,  —  destined  to  endure  long  after  the  arch  has 
crumbled  to  dust,  and  when  the  triumph  it  seeks  to 
perpetuate  has  passed  from  the  minds  of  men.  That 
day  was  not  lost.  On  no  day  wast  thou  so  great  or 
beneficent  as  when  thou  gavest  this  eternal  lesson  to 
man.  Across  the  ages  it  still  reaches  innumerable 
hearts,  even  as  it  penetrated  the  friendly  bosoms  that 
throbbed  beneath  its  first  utterance.  The  child  learns 
it,  and  receives  a  new  impulse  to  labor  and  goodness. 
There  are  few,  whether  old  or  young,  who  do  not  recog 
nize  it  as  more  than  a  victory. 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  185 

If  I  undertake  to  dwell  on  the  suggestions  of  this 
theme,  it  is  because  it  seems  to  me  especially  appro 
priate  to  the  young,  at  whose  request  I  have  the  honor 
of  appearing  before  you.  My  subject  is  the  Value  of 
Time,  and  the  way  in  which  it  may  be  best  employed.  I 
shall  attempt  nothing  elaborate,  but  simply  gather  to 
gether  illustrations  and  examples,  which,  though  trite 
and  familiar,  will  at  least  be  practical. 

The  value  of  time  is  one  of  our  earliest  lessons, 
taught  at  the  mother's  knee,  even  with  the  alphabet,  — 
"  S  is  a  sluggard,"  —  confirmed  by  the  maxims  of  Poor 
Richard,  printed  at  the  end  of  almanacs,  and  stamped 
on  handkerchiefs,  —  further  enforced  by  the  examples 
of  the  copy-book,  as  the  young  fingers  first  learn  to  join 
words  together  by  the  magical  art  of  writing.  Fable 
comes  in  aid  of  precept,  and  the  venerable  figure  of 
Tune  is  depicted  to  the  receptive,  almost  believing, 
imagination  of  childhood,  as  winged,  and  also  bald  on 
the  top  and  back  of  the  head,  with  a  single  tuft  of  hair 
on  the  forehead,  signifying  that  whoso  would  detain  it 
must  seize  it  by  the  forelock.  With  such  lessons  and 
pictures  the  child  is  trained.  Moralist,  preacher,  and 
poet  also  enforce  these  teachings ;  and  the  improve 
ment  of  time,  the  importance  of  industry,  and  the 
excellence  of  labor  become  commonplaces  of  exhorta 
tion. 

The  value  of  time  has  passed  into  a  proverb,  —  "  Time 
is  money."  It  is  so  because  its  employment  brings 
money.  But  it  is  more.  It  is  knowledge.  Still  more, 
it  is  virtue.  Nor  is  it  creditable  to  the  character  of  the 
world  that  the  proverb  has  taken  this  material  and 
mercenary  complexion,  as  if  money  were  the  highest 


186  THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME. 

good  and  the  strongest  recommendation.  Time  is  more 
than  money.  It  brings  what  money  cannot  purchase. 
It  has  in  its  lap  all  the  learning  of  the  Past,  the  spoils 
of  Antiquity,  the  priceless  treasures  of  knowledge. 
Who  would  barter  these  for  gold  or  silver  ?  But  knowl 
edge  is  a  means  only,  and  not  an  end.  It  is  valuable  be 
cause  it  promotes  the  welfare,  the  development,  and  the 
progress  of  man.  And  the  highest  value  of  time  is  not 
even  in  knowledge,  but  in  the  opportunity  of  doing 
good. 

Time  is  opportunity.  Little  or  much,  it  may  be  the 
occasion  of  usefulness.  It  is  the  point  desired  by  the 
philosopher  where  to  plant  the  lever  that  shall  move 
the  world.  It  is  the  napkin  in  which  are  wrapped, 
not  only  the  talent  of  silver,  but  the  treasures  of  knowl 
edge  and  the  fruits  of  virtue.  Saving  time,  we  save  all 
these.  Employing  time  to  the  best  advantage,  we  exer 
cise  a  true  thrift.  Here  is  a  wise  parsimony  ;  here  is  a 
sacred  avarice.  To  each  of  us  the  passing  day  is  of  the 
same  dimensions,  nor  can  any  one  by  taking  thought 
add  a  moment  to  its  hours.  But  though  unable  to  ex 
tend  their  duration,  he  may  swell  them  with  works. 

It  is  customary  to  say, "  Take  care  of  the  small  sums, 
and  the  large  will  take  care  of  themselves."  With  equal 
wisdom  and  more  necessity  may  it  be  said,  "  Watch  the 
minutes,  and  the  hours  and  days  will  be  safe."  The 
moments  are  precious ;  they  are  gold  filings,  to  be  care 
fully  preserved  and  melted  into  the  rich  ingot. 

Time  is  the  measure  of  life  on  earth.  Its  enjoyment  is 
life  itself.  Its  divisions,  its  days,  its  hours,  its  minutes, 
are  fractions  of  this  heavenly  gift.  Every  moment  that 
flies  over  our  heads  takes  from  the  future  and  gives  to 
the  irrevocable  past,  shortening  by  so  much  the  measure 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  187 

of  our  days,  abridging  by  so  much  the  means  of  useful 
ness  committed  to  our  hands.  Before  the  voice  which 
now  addresses  you  shall  die  away  in  the  air,  another 
hour  will  have  passed,  and  we  shall  all  have  advanced 
by  another  stage  towards  the  final  goal  on  earth. 
Waste  or  sacrifice  of  time  is,  then,  waste  or  sacrifice 
of  life  itself:  it  is  partial  suicide. 

The  moments  lost  in  listlessness  or  squandered  in 
unprofitable  dissipation,  gathered  into  aggregates,  are 
hours,  days,  weeks,  months,  years.  The  daily  sacrifice 
of  a  single  hour  during  a  year  comes  at  its  end  to 
thirty-six  working  days,  allowing  ten  hours  to  the  day,  — 
an  amount  of  time,  if  devoted  exclusively  to  one  object, 
ample  for  the  acquisition  of  important  knowledge,  and 
for  the  accomplishment  of  inconceivable  good.  Imagine, 
if  you  please,  a  solid  month  dedicated,  without  interrup 
tion,  to  a  single  purpose, — to  the  study  of  a  new  language, 
an  untried  science,  an  unexplored  field  of  history,  a  fresh 
department  of  philosophy,  or  to  some  new  sphere  of 
action,  some  labor  of  humanity,  some  godlike  charity,  — 
and  what  visions  must  not  rise  of  untold  accumulations 
of  knowledge,  of  unnumbered  deeds  of  goodness  !  Who 
of  us  does  not  each  day,  in  manifold  ways,  sacrifice  these 
precious  moments,  these  golden  hours  ? 

There  is  a  legend  of  Mohammed  which  teaches  how 
much  may  be  crowded  into  a  moment.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  suddenly  taken  up  by  an  angel,  and  borne  be 
yond  the  flaming  bounds  of  space,  where  he  beheld  the 
wonders  of  Heaven  and  Hell,  the  bliss  of  the  faithful 
and  the  torments  of  the  damned  in  measureless  variety, 
and  wajs  then  returned  to  the  spot  of  earth  from  which 
he  had  been  lifted,  —  all  in  so  short  a  time  that  the 
water  had  not  entirely  run  out  of  the  pitcher  which 


188  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

he  let  fall  from  his  hands  when  he  was  borne  up 
wards.  But  actual  life  furnishes  illustrations  of  greater 
point.  It  is  related  of  a  celebrated  French  jurist,  one 
of  the  ornaments  of  the  magistracy,  that  he  composed  a 
learned  and  important  work  in  the  quarter  hours  that 
draggled  between  dinner  ordered  and  dinner  served. 
Napoleon  directed  one  of  his  generals  to  move  on  a 
battery  of  the  enemy,  although  reinforcements  were  in 
sight,  saying,  "  It  will  take  them  fifteen  minutes  to 
reach  the  point ;  I  have  always  observed  that  these 
fifteen  minutes  decide  great  battles."  In  the  currents 
of  common  life  they  are  often  as  decisive  as  in  the 
heady  fight. 

It  would  be  easy,  from  literary  and  political  history, 
from  the  lives  of  all  who  have  excelled  in  any  way, 
to  accumulate  illustrations  of  the  power  of  industry. 
Among  those  who  have  achieved  what  the  world  calls 
greatness,  the  list  might  be  extended  from  Julius  Caesar 
to  Napoleon,  whose  feats  of  labor  are  among  the  mar 
vels  of  history.  Nor  should  we  forget  Alfred,  the  father 
of  English  civilization,  whose  better  fame  testifies  also 
to  the  wise  employment  of  time.  Our  own  country, 
this  very  town,  furnishes  a  renowned  example  in  Ben 
jamin  Franklin.  Here  I  pronounce  a  name  which  has 
its  own  familiar  echoes.  His  early  studies,  when  a  print 
er's  boy,  —  his  singular  experience  of  life  in  its  ex 
tremes,  —  sounding  in  childhood  all  the  humilities,  as 
in  maturer  years  he  reached  all  that  was  exalted  in 
place, — the  truant  boy  become  a  teacher  to  the  nations, 
arid  pouring  light  upon  the  highest  schools  of  science 
and  philosophy,  touching  the  throne  with  hands  once 
blackened  by  types  and  ink,  —  all  this  must  be  pres 
ent  to  you.  His  first  and  constant  talisman  was  indus- 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  189 

try.  The  autobiography  in  which  he  has  recorded  his 
progress  in  knowledge  is  a  remarkable  composition, 
where  the  style  flows  like  a  brook  of  transparent  water, 
without  a  ripple  on  its  smooth  surface.  Perhaps  no 
single  book  has  had  greater  influence  in  quickening 
labor  and  the  rigid  economy  of  time,  overcoming  all 
obstacles,  among  those  whose  early  life  has  been  chilled 
by  penury  or  darkened  by  neglect.  But  we  must  quali 
fy  our  praise.  It  cannot  fail  to  be  regretted  that  the 
lessons  taught  by  Franklin  are  so  little  spiritual  in 
their  character,  —  that  they  are  so  material,  so  mun 
dane,  so  full  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence.  "  The 
Almighty  Dollar,"  now  ruling  here  with  sovereign  sway 
and  masterdom,  was  placed  on  the  throne  by  Poor  Rich 
ard.  When  shall  it  be  dethroned  ?  When  shall  the 
thoughts,  the  aspirations,  the  politics  of  the  land  be 
lifted  from  the  mere  greed  of  gain,  with  an  appetite 
that  grows  by  what  it  feeds  on,  into  the  serene  region 
of  inflexible  justice  and  universal  benevolence  ?  Could 
we  imagine  the  thrift,  the  worldly  wisdom,  the  practical 
sense,  the  inventive  genius  of  Franklin,  softened,  exalted, 
illumined,  inspired  by  the  imagination,  the  grace,  the 
sensibility,  the  heavenly  spirit  of  Channing,  we  should 
behold  a  character  under  whose  influence  our  country 
would  advance  at  once  in  all  spiritual  as  well  as  mate 
rial  prosperity, — where  money  should  not  be  the  "  main 
chance,"  but  truth,  justice,  righteousness,  drawing  in 
their  train  all  the  goods  of  earth,  and  reflecting  all  the 
blessings  of  heaven.  Then  would  time  be  the  best  ally 
of  man,  and  no  day  would  pass  without  some  good 
thing  done. 

Among  the  contemporaries  of  Franklin  in  England, 
unlike  in  the  patrician  circumstances  of  his  birth,  edu- 


190  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

cation,  and  life,  most  unlike  in  his  topics  of  thought 
and  study,  but  resembling  him  in  the  diligence  and 
constancy  of  labor  marking  his  career,  was  Edward  Gib 
bon,  author  of  the  History  of  the  Decline  and  Fall  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  He  also  has  left  behind  an  auto 
biography, —  in  style  and  tone  how  unlike  the  simple 
narrative  of  Franklin  !  —  where  in  living  colors  are  de 
picted  the  labors  and  delights  of  a  scholar's  life.  This 
book  has  always  seemed  to  me,  more  than  any  other  in 
the  English  language,  calculated  to  enkindle  the  love 
of  learning,  and  to  train  the  student  for  its  pursuit. 
Here  he  will  find  an  example  and  guide  in  the  various 
fields  of  scholarship,  who  will  challenge  his  admiration 
in  proportion  as  he  shares  the  same  generous  aspiration. 
The  autobiographies  of  Gibbon  and  Franklin  are  comple 
ments  of  each  other.  They  teach  the  same  lesson  of 
labor  and  study  in  different  spheres  of  life  and  to  dif 
ferent  classes  of  minds.  Both  have  rare  excellence 
as  compositions,  and  constitute  important  contributions 
to  that  literature  which  illustrates  the  employment  of 
time. 

There  is  another  character,  of  our  own  age,  whose  ex 
ample  is,  perhaps,  more  direct  and  practical,  especially 
as  described  by  himself:  I  mean  William  Cobbett.  To 
appreciate  this  example,  you  must  know  something  of 
his  long  life,  from  early  and  inauspicious  youth  to  vener 
able  years,  filled  always  with  labors  various,  incessant, 
and  Herculean,  under  which  his  elastic  nature  seemed  to 
rise  with  renewed  strength.  He  died  in  1835,  supposed 
to  be  seventy-three  years  of  age,  although  the  exact 
date  of  his  birth  was  never  known,  and  such  was  the 
position  he  had  acquired  that  he  was  characterized  at 
that  time,  even  by  hostile  pens,  as  one  of  the  most  re- 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  191 

markable  men  whom  England,  fertile  in  intellectual  ex 
cellence,  ever  produced.  The  lapse  of  little  more  than 
ten  years  has  begun  to  obscure  his  memory.  It  will 
be  for  posterity  to  determine  whether  he  has  connected 
his  name  with  those  great  causes  of  human  improve 
ment  which  send  their  influence  to  future  ages,  and  are 
destined  to  be  the  only  consideration  on  which  fame 
hereafter  will  be  awarded  or  preserved.  But  the  mem 
ory  of  his  labors,  and  the  voice  of  encouragement  to  the 
poor  and  lowly  which  sounds  throughout  his  writings, 
must  always  be  refreshing  to  those  whose  hopes  of 
future  usefulness  are  clouded  by  discouragement  and 
poverty.  There  can  be  none  so  humble  as  not  to  derive 
succor  from  his  example.  He  was  conscious  even  to 
vanity  of  his  own  large  powers,  and  at  the  close  of 
his  long  career  surveyed  his  succession  of  labors  —  the 
hundred  volumes  from  his  sleepless  pen,  and  the  wide 
influence  they  had  exercised  —  with  the  self-gratulation 
of  the  miser  in  counting  his  stores  of  gold  and  silver. 

The  son  of  a  poor  farmer,  at  the  age  of  twenty  he 
ran  away  from  the  paternal  acres,  and  became  for  a  short 
time  copying-clerk  to  a  lawyer,  but,  tiring  soon  of  these 
duties,  he  enlisted  in  the  army  and  found  himself  pri 
vate  in  a  regiment  at  Chatham,  which  was  ordered  to 
America.  His  merit  soon  raised  him  to  the  rank  of  cor 
poral,  and  then  of  sergeant-major.  At  this  time  he  saw 
his  future  wife  and  the  mother  of  his  children.  The 
circumstances  of  this  meeting,  as  described  by  himself 
in  his  own  peculiar  style,  belong  to  this  picture,  while 
they  illustrate  the  subject.  "When  I  first  saw  my 
wife,"  he  writes,  "  she  was  thirteen  years  old,  and  I  was 
within  a  month  of  twenty-one.  She  was  the  daughter 
of  a  sergeant-major  of  artillery,  and  I  was  the  sergeant- 


192  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

major  of  a  regiment  of  foot,  both  stationed  in  forts  near 
the  city  of  St.  John,  in  the  province  of  New  Bruns 
wick.  I  sat  in  the  same  room  with  her  for  about  an 
hour,  in  company  with  others,  and  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  she  was  the  very  girl  for  me.  That  I  thought  her 
beautiful  is  certain,  for  that  I  had  always  said  should  be 
an  indispensable  qualification ;  but  I  saw  in  her  what  I 
deemed  marks  of  that  sobriety  of  conduct  of  which  I 
have  said  so  much,  and  which  has  been  by  far  the  great 
est  blessing  of  my  life.  It  was  now  dead  of  winter,  and 
of  course  the  snow  several  feet  deep  on  the  ground,  and 
the  weather  piercing  cold.  It  was  my  habit,  when  I  had 
done  my  morning's  writing,  to  go  out  at  break  of  day  to 
take  a  walk  on  a  hill  at  the  foot  of  which  our  barracks 
lay.  In  about  three  mornings  after  I  had  first  seen  her,  I 
had,  by  an  invitation  to  breakfast  with  me,  got  up  two 
young  men  to  join  me  in  my  walk,  and  our  road  lay  by 
the  house  of  her  father  and  mother.  It  was  hardly  light, 
but  she  was  out  on  the  snow,  scrubbing  out  a  washing- 
tub.  '  That 's  the  girl  for  me  I '  said  I,  when  we  had  got 
out  of  her  hearing."1  To  her  he  plighted  faith.  After 
eight  years  of  service  in  the  army,  and  his  return  to 
England,  he  obtained  his  discharge  and  married  her. 

In  1792  Cobbett  came  to  the  United  States,  living 
in  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  bookseller,  publisher,  au 
thor,  and  libeller  by  profession.  As  "  Peter  Porcupine  " 
he  is  well  known.  He  shot  his  sharp  and  malicious 
quills  at  the  most  estimable  characters,  —  Franklin,  Jef- 
ferson,  Gallatin,  Priestley,  and  even  the  sacred  name 
of  Washington.  A  heavy  judgment  for  libel  hanging 
suspended  over  him,  he  fled  from  America,  and  from 
the  justice  he  had  aroused,  to  commence  in  England  a 

l  Life,  pp.  44,  46. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  193 

fresh  career  of  unquestioned  talents,  unaccountable  in 
consistency,  and  inexhaustible  malignity. 

On  his  arrival  in  England  Cobbett  attached  himself 
warmly  to  the  interests  of  Mr.  Pitt,  in  whose  behalf  he 
wielded  for  a  while  his  untiring  pen.  At  the  same 
time  he  commenced  business  as  bookseller,  in  which 
he  soon  failed.  In  politics  he  showed  himself  more 
Tory  than  the  most  Tory.  Mr.  "Windham,  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  made  the  remarkable  declaration,  that  "  he 
merited  a  statue  of  gold." *  His  Letters  on  the  Treaty  of 
Amiens  produced  a  sensation  throughout  Europe.2  The 
celebrated  Swiss  historian,  Von  Miiller,  pronounced  them 
more  eloquent  than  anything  since  Demosthenes.  How 
transitory  is  fame !  These  Letters,  once  so  much  ad 
mired,  which,  with  profane  force,  helped  to  burst  open 
the  Temple  of  Janus,  happily  closed  by  peace,  are  now 
forgotten.  I  do  not  know  that  they  are  to  be  found 
in  any  library  in  this  part  of  the  country. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  he  commenced  his  "  "Weekly 
Political  Register,"  which  for  more  than  thirty  years  was 
the  vehicle  of  his  opinions  and  feelings.  But  the  pungent 
Toryism  with  which  he  began  his  career  was  changed 
into  a  more  pungent  Liberalism ;  from  the  oil  of  Conser 
vatism  he  passed  to  the  vinegar  of  Dissent.  He  saw 
all  things  in  a  new  light,  and  with  unsparing  criticism 
pursued  the  men  he  had  recently  extolled.  His  Ish- 
mael  pen  was  turned  against  every  man.  He  wrote 
with  the  hardihood  of  a  pirate  and  the  ardor  of  a 
patriot.  At  length  he  was  convicted  of  libel,  and  sen 
tenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  a  thousand  pounds  and  to  be 

1  Speech,  August  5, 1803:  Hansard,  XXXVI.  1679. 

2  Letters  to  the  Right  Honorable   Lord   Hawkesbury  and  to  the  Right 
Honorable  Henry  Addington,  on  the  Peace  with  Buonaparte*  ;  to  which  is 
added  an  Appendix.    London,  1802. 

9  M 


194  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

imprisoned  for  two  years.  This  severe  incarceration  he 
never  forgave  or  forgot.  With  thoughts  of  vengeance 
he  emerged  from  his  prison  to  unaccustomed  popularity. 
His  "  Kegister,"  into  which,  as  into  a  seething  caldron, 
he  weekly  poured  the  venom  of  his  pen,  reached  the 
unprecedented  circulation  of  one  hundred  thousand,  an 
audience  greater  than  was  ever  before  addressed  by 
saint  or  sinner.  The  soul  swells  in  the  contemplation 
of  the  good  that  might  have  been  wrought  by  a  spirit 
elevated  to  the  high  purpose,  having  access  to  so  many 
human  hearts.  His  pen  waxing  in  inveteracy,  and  him 
self  becoming  daily  more  obnoxious  to  the  Govern 
ment,  in  1817,  by  timely  flight,  he  withdrew  from  the 
threatening  storm,  and  sought  shelter  in  the  United 
States,  where  he  lingered,  principally  on  Long  Island, 
till  1819,  when  he  wandered  back  to  England,  there  to 
renew  his  strifes  and  ruffle  again  the  waters  of  political 
controversy.  As  late  as  1831,  he  was,  for  the  eighth 
time  in  his  life,  brought  into  court  on  a  charge  of  libel. 
The  veteran  libeller,  then  seventy  years  of  age,  de 
fended  himself  in  a  speech  which  occupied  six  hours. 
The  jury  did  not  agree,  —  six  being  for  conviction  and 
six  for  acquittal. 

At  the  general  election  for  the  Reform  Parliament  in 
1832,  Cobbett  was  chosen  member  for  the  borough  of 
Oldham,  which  seat  he  held  until  June  18,  1835,  when 
his  long,  active,  and  disturbed  career  was  closed  by 
death,  leaving  her  whom  he  had  loved  at  the  wash- 
tub,  amid  the  snows  of  New  Brunswick,  his  honored 
widow. 

His  character  was  unique.  He  was  the  most  em 
phatic  of  writers,  perhaps  the  most  voluminous.  He 
was  foremost  in  the  crew  of  haters  ;  he  was  the  paragon 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  195 

of  turncoats.  Sentiments  uttered  at  one  period  were 
denied  at  another.  At  one  time  he  wrote  of  Paine 
as  follows  :  "  He  has  done  all  the  mischief  he  can  in 
the  world,  and  whether  his  carcass  is  at  last  to  be 
suffered  to  rot  on  the  earth  or  to  be  dried  in  the  air 
is  of  very  little  consequence.  Whenever  or  wherever 
he  breathes  his  last,  he  will  excite  neither  sorrow  nor 
compassion ;  no  friendly  hand  will  close  his  eyes." 1 
Later  in  life,  on  his  second  visit  to  America,  he  ex 
humed  the  bones  of  the  man  he  had  thus  reviled,  and 
bore  them  in  idolatrous  custody  to  the  land  of  his 
birth. 

Besides  his  multitudinous  political  writings,  which  in 
number  remind  us  of  the  cloud  of  "  locusts  warping  on 
the  eastern  wind,"  he  produced  several  works  of  great 
and  deserved  popularity,  —  a  Grammar  of  the  French 
Language,  written  while  he  rocked  the  cradle  of  his  first 
child,  —  a  Grammar  of  the  English  Language,  —  a  little 
volume,  "  Advice  to  Young  Men,"  —  and  a  series  of 
sketches  entitled  "  Eural  Rides,"  in  which  he  gave  un 
mixed  pleasure  to  friend  and  foe. 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  upon  the  life -and  character  of 
Cobbett,  as  a  proper  introduction  to  the  picture  of  his 
marvellous  industry,  which  I  am  able  to  present  in  his 
own  language.  The  labor  which  he  accomplished  testi 
fies  ;  but  in  his  writings  he  often  refers  to  it  with  peculiar 
pride.  He  tells  us  how  he  learned  grammar.  Writing  a 
fair  hand,  he  was  employed  as  copyist  by  the  command 
ant  of  the  garrison  where  he  first  enlisted.  In  his  auto 
biography  he  says  :  "  Being  totally  ignorant  of  the  rules 
of  grammar,  I  necessarily  made  many  mistakes.  The 

l  Life  of  Thomas  Paine  :  Political  Censor,  No.  V.,  Sept,  1796  :  Porcu 
pine's  Works,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  112,  113. 


196  THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME. 

Colonel  saw  my  deficiency,  and  strongly  recommended 
study.  I  procured  me  a  Lowth's  Grammar,  and  applied 
myself  to  the  study  of  it  with  unceasing  assiduity.  The 
pains  I  took  cannot  be  described.  I  wrote  the  whole 
Grammar  out  two  or  three  times  ;  I  got  it  by  heart ;  I 
repeated  it  every  morning  and  every  evening  ;  and  when 
on  guard,  I  imposed  on  myself  the  task  of  saying  it  all 
over  once,  every  time  I  was  posted  sentinel."  1  Would 
that  all  posted  as  sentinels  were  as  well  employed  as  say 
ing  over  to  themselves  the  English  grammar  !  If  every 
common  soldier  could  do  this,  there  would  be  little  fear 
of  war.  The  evil  spirits  were  supposed  to  be  driven 
away  by  an  Ave  Maria  or  a  word  of  prayer.  The  gram 
mar  would  be  as  potent.  "  Terrible  as  an  army  with 
grammars "  would  be  more  than  "  Terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners." 

In  his  "Advice  to  Young  Men"  Cobbett  says:  "For  my 
part,  I  can  truly  say  that  I  owe  more  of  my  great  labors 
to  my  strict  adherence  to  the  precepts  that  I  have  here 
given  you  than  to  all  the  natural  abilities  with  which  I 
have  been  endowed ;  for  these,  whatever  may  have  been 
their  amount,  would  have  been  of  comparatively  little 
use,  even  aided  by  great  sobriety  and  abstinence,  if  I 
had  not  in  early  life  contracted  the  blessed  habit  of 
husbanding  well  my  time.  To  this,  more  than  to  any 
other  thing,  I  owed  my  very  extraordinary  promotion  in 
the  army.  I  was  always  ready.  If  I  had  to  mount 
guard  at  ten,  I  was  ready  at  nine ;  never  did  any  man  or 

any  thing  wait  one  moment  for  me My  custom  was 

this  :  to  get  up  in  summer  at  daylight,  and  in  winter  at 
four  o'clock ;  shave,  dress,  even  to  the  putting  of  my 
sword-belt  over  my  shoulder,  and  having  my  sword  ly- 

1  Life,  p.  38. 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  197 

ing  on  the  table  before  me,  ready  to  hang  by  my  side. 
Then  I  ate  a  bit  of  cheese  or  pork  and  bread.  Then  I 
prepared  my  report,  which  was  filled  up  as  fast  as  the 
companies  brought  me  in  the  materials.  After  this  I 
had  an  hour  or  two  to  read  before  the  time  came  for 
any  duty  out  of  doors."  l 

At  a  later  period  of  life,  when  his  condition  was 
entirely  changed,  and  his  name  as  a  writer  was  in  all 
men's  mouths,  he  thus  describes  his  habits.  "  I  hardly 
ever  eat  more  than  twice  a  day,  —  when  at  home,  never, 
—  and  I  never,  if  I  can  well  avoid  it,  eat  any  meat 
later  than  one  or  two  o'clock  in  the  day.  I  drink  a 
little  tea  or  milk-and-water  at  the  usual  tea-time  (about 
seven  o'clock).  I  go  to  bed  at  eight,  if  I  can.  I  write 
or  read  from  about  four  to  about  eight,  and  then,  hungry 
as  a  hunter,  I  go  to  breakfast."  2 

In  another  place  he  recounts  with  especial  satisfaction 
a  conversation  at  which  he  was  present,  one  of  the 
parties  to  which  was  Sir  John  Sinclair,  the  famous  ag 
riculturist  and  correspondent  of  Washington.  "  I  once 
heard  Sir  John  Sinclair,"  he  says,  "  ask  Mr.  Cochrane 
Johnstone  whether  he  meant  to  have  a  son  of  his,  then 
a  little  boy,  taught  Latin.  '  No,'  said  Mr.  Johnstone, 
'but  I  mean  to  do  something  a  great  deal  better  for 
him.'  '  What  is  that  ? '  said  Sir  John.  '  Why,'  said  the 
other, '  teach  him  to  shave  with  cold  water  and  without 
a  glass.' "  3 

With  this  pertinacious  devotion  to  labor,  and  this 
unparalleled  sense  of  the  value  of  time,  Cobbett  sur 
rendered  himself  to  the  blandishments  of  domestic  life. 
The  hundred-armed  giant  of  the  press,  he  always  had  an 

1  Advice  to  Young  Men,  pp.  35,  36.  2  Life,  p.  137. 

'  Advice  to  Young  Men,  p.  34. 


198  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

arm  for  his  child.  "  For  my  own  part,"  he  says,  "  how 
many  days,  how  many  mouths,  all  put  together,  have  I 
spent  with  babies  in  my  arms !  My  time,  when  at 
home,  and  when  babies  were  going  on,  was  chiefly  di 
vided  between  the  pen  and  the  baby.  I  have  fed  them 
and  put  them  to  sleep  hundreds  of  times,  though  there 
were  servants  to  whom  the  task  might  have  been  trans 
ferred.  Yet  I  have  not  been  effeminate;  I  have  not 
been  idle  ;  I  have  not  been  a  waster  of  time."  "  Many 
a  score  of  papers  have  I  written  amidst  the  noise  of 
children,  and  in  my  whole  life  never  bade  them  be 
still.  When  they  grew  up  to  be  big  enough  to  gallop 
about  the  house,  I  have,  in  wet  weather,  when  they 
could  not  go  out,  written  the  whole  day  amidst  noise 
that  would  have  made  some  authors  half  mad.  It  never 
annoyed  me  at  all." 1 

These  passages  are  like  windows  in  his  life,  through 
which  we  discern  his  character,  where  the  domestic  af 
fections  seem  to  vie  with  the  sense  of  time. 

No  person  can  become  familiar  with  the  career  of 
Cobbett  without  recognizing  regular  habits  of  industry  as 
the  potent  means  of  producing  important  results.  Did 
the  hour  permit,  it  would  be  pleasant  and  instructive  to 
review  the  career  of  another  distinguished  character, 
whose  writings  have  added  much  to  the  happiness  of 
his  age,  and  whose  rare  feats  of  labor  illustrate  the  same 
truth  :  I  mean  the  author  of  "  Waverley."  There  are 
points  of  comparison  or  contrast  between  Cobbett  and 
Scott  which  might  be  presented  at  length.  They  were 
strictly  contemporaries,  spanning  with  their  lives  almost 
the  same  long  tract  of  time.  They  were  the  most  volu 
minous  authors  of  their  age,  perhaps  the  most  volumi- 

1  Advice  to  Young  Men,  pp.  142, 194. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  199 

nous  couple  of  any  age.  Since  the  days  of  Ariosto  no 
writers  had  been  read  by  so  many  persons  as  was  the 
fortune  of  each.  The  marvellous  fecundity  of  Scott 
was  more  than  matched  by  the  prolific  energy  of  Cob- 
bett.  The  fame  of  the  Scotsman  was  equalled  by  the 
notoriety  of  the  Englishman.  If  one  awakened  our  de 
light,  we  could  not  withhold  from  the  other  our  astonish 
ment.  With  Scott  life  was  a  gala  and  a  festival,  with 
beauty,  wit,  and  bravery.  With.  Cobbett  it  was  a  stern 
reality,  perpetually  crying  out,  like  the  witch  in  Macbeth, 
"  I  '11  do,  I  '11  do,  and  I  '11  do."  And  yet  Scott  was  hard 
ly  less  careful  of  time  than  his  indefatigable  contempo 
rary.  His  life  is  a  lesson  of  industry,  and  the  student 
may  derive  instruction  from  his  example.  Both  sought 
in  early  rising  the  propitious  hours  of  labor ;  but  the 
morning  brought  its  rich  incense  to  the  one,  and  its 
vigor  to  the  other.  They  departed  this  life  within  a 
short  period  of  each  other,  casting  and  leaving  behind 
their  voluminous  folds  of  authorship.  The  future  his 
torian  will  note  and  study  these ;  but  the  world,  which 
has  already  dismissed  Cobbett  from  its  presence,  will 
hardly  cherish  with  enduring  affection  the  writings  of 
Scott.  He  lived  in  the  Past,  and,  with  ill-directed 
genius,  sought  to  gild  the  force,  the  injustice,  the  in 
humanity  of  the  early  ages.  Cobbett  lived  intensely  in 
the  Present,  and  drew  his  inspiration  from  its  short 
lived  controversies.  For  neither  had  Hope  scattered 
from  her  "pictured  urn"  the  delights  of  an  unborn 
period,  when  the  dignity  of  Humanity  shall  stand  con 
fessed.  A  greater  fame  than  is  awarded  to  either  will 
be  his  who  hereafter,  with  the  imagination  of  the  one 
and  the  energy  of  the  other,  without  the  spirit  of  Hate 
that  animated  Cobbett,  without  the  spirit  of  Caste  that 


200  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

prevailed  in  Scott,  regarding  life  neither  as  a  festival 
nor  as  a  battle,  forgetting  Cavalier  and  Roundhead  alike, 
and  remembering  only  Universal  Man,  shall  dedicate 
the  labors  of  a  long  life,  not  to  the  Past,  not  to  the 
Present  only,  but  also  to  the  Future,  striving  to  bring 
its  blessings  nearer  to  all 

Such  are  some  of  the  examples  by  which  we  learn 
the  constant  lesson  of  the  value  of  time.  For  them 
genius  did  much,  but  industry  went  liand  in  hand  with 
this  celestial  guide. 

Here  the  student  may  ask  by  what  rule  time  is  to 
be  arranged  and  apportioned  so  as  to  accomplish  the 
greatest  results.  If  we  interrogate  the  lives  of  our 
masters  in  this  regard,  we  shall  find  no  uniform  rule  as 
to  the  employment  of  the  day,  or  even  the  hours  of 
repose.  The  great  lawyer,  Lord  Coke,  whose  rare  learn 
ing  and  professional  fame  cannot  render  us  insensible  to 
his  brutality  of  character,  has  preserved  for  the  benefit 
of  the  young  student  some  Latin  verses  setting  forth 
the  proper  division  of  the  day,  allowing  six  hours  for 
sleep,  six  for  the  law,  four  for  prayers,  two  for  meals, 
while  all  the  rest,  being  six  hours  more,  is  to  be  lavished 
on  the  sacred  muses.1  These  directions  are  imperfectly 
reproduced  in  two  English  rhymes  :  — 

Six  hours  in  sleep;  in  law's  grave  study  six  ; 
Four  spend  in  prayer  ;  the  rest  on  Nature  fix." 

A  more  estimable  character  than  Lord  Coke,  in  whose 
life  clustered  literary  as  well  as  professional  honors,  Sir 
William  Jones,  himself  a  model  of  the  industry  he  in 
culcated,  has  said  in  a  well-known  distich  :  — 

1  "  Sex  boras  sotnno,  totidem  des  legibus  tcquis, 

Quatuor  orabis,  des  opuli»que  duns ; 
Quod  superest  ultra  sacris  largire  camoenis." 
Co.  LITT.  64. 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  201 

"  Six  hours  to  law,  to  soothing  slumber  seven, 
Ten  to  the  world  allot,  and  all  to  Heaven." 

The  one  hour  here  unappropriated  is  absorbed  in  the 
"  all  to  Heaven."  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  another  eminent 
name  in  jurisprudence,  studied  sixteen  hours  a  day  for 
the  first  two  years  after  he  commenced  the  law,  but 
almost  brought  himself  to  the  grave  thereby,  though  of 
a  strong  constitution,  and  he  afterwards  came  down  to 
eight  hours  ;  but  he  would  not  advise  anybody  to  so 
much,  —  believing  that  six  hours  a  day,  with  constancy 
and  attention,  were  sufficient,  and  adding,  that  "  a  man 
must  use  his  body  as  he  would  his  horse  and  his 
stomach,  not  tire  him  at  once,  but  rise  with  an  appe 
tite."  l  Here  is  at  once  example  and  warning. 

Sleep  is  the  most  exacting  of  masters ;  it  must  be 
obeyed.  Couriers  slumber  on  their  horses ;  soldiers 
drop  asleep  on  the  field  of  battle,  even  amidst  the  din 
of  war.  In  that  famous  retreat  of  Sir  John  Moore, 
English  soldiers  are  said  to  have  slept  while  still  mov 
ing.  Ambition  and  the  pride  of  victory  yield  to  sleep. 
Alexander  slept  on  the  field  of  Arbela,  and  Napoleon 
on  the  field  of  Austerlitz.  Bereavement  and  approach 
ing  death  are  forgotten  in  sleep.  The  convict  sleeps 
in  the  few  hours  before  his  execution.  According  to 
Homer,  sleep  overcomes  even  the  gods,  excepting  Jupiter 
alone.  Its  beneficence  is  equal  to  its  power;  nor  has 
this  ever  been  pictured  more  wonderfully  than  in  those 
agonized  words  of  Macbeth,  where  he  says,  — 

"  Macbeth  does  murther  sleep,  the  innocent  sleep,  — 
Sleep,  that  knits  up  the  ravelled  sleave  of  care, 
The  death  of  each  day's  life,  sore  labor's  bath, 
Balm  of  hurt  minds,  great  Nature's  second  course, 
Chief  nourisher  in  life's  feast" 

1  Roscoe,  Lives  of  Eminent  British  Lawyers:  Notes,  pp.  413,  414. 
9* 


202  THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME. 

The  rule  of  sleep  is  not  the  same  for  all  There  are 
some  with  whom  its  requirements  are  gentle  :  a  few 
hours  will  suffice.  But  such  cases  are  exceptional. 
The  Jesuits  have  done  much  for  education,  but  on  this 
question  they  seem  to  have  failed.  In  settling  the 
system  for  their  college  at  Clermont,  they  followed 
their  physicians  in  a  rigid  rule.  The  latter  reported 
that  five  hours  were  sufficient,  six  abundant,  and  seven 
as  much  as  a  youthful  constitution  could  bear  without 
injury.  On  the  other  hand,  Cobbett,  whose  experience 
of  life  was  as  thorough  as  Ms  diligence,  says  expressly : 
"  Young  people  require  more  sleep  than  those  that  are 
grown  up :  there  must  be  the  number  of  hours,  and  that 
number  cannot  well  be  on  an  average  less  than  eight; 
and  if  it  be  more  in  winter-time,  it  is  all  the  better."  J 
George  the  Third  thought  otherwise,  at  least  for  men. 
A  tradesman,  whom  he  had  asked  to  call  on  him  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  arriving  behind  the  hour, 
the  King  said,  "  Oh  !  the  great  Mr.  B. !  What  sleep  do 
you  take,  Mr.  B.  ?  "  "  Why,  please  your  Majesty,  I  am 
a  mail  of  regular  habits;  I  usually  take  eight  hours." 
"  Eight  hours  ! "  said  the  King ;  "  that 's  too  much,  too 
much.  Six  hours'  sleep  is  enough  for  a  man,  seven  for 
a  woman,  and  eight  for  a  fool,  —  Mr.  B.,  eight  for  a 
fool."  The  opinions  of  physiologists  would  probably 
incline  with  Mr.  B.,  the  tradesman,  contrary  to  this 
royal  authority. 

It  is  impossible  to  lay  down  any  universal  rule  with 
regard  to  the  proper  portion  of  time  for  sleep.  Each 
constitution  of  body  has  its  own  habits ;  nor  can  any 
rule  l)e  drawn  from  the  lives  of  the  most  industrious,  ex 
cept  of  economy  of  time,  according  to  the  capacity  of 

1  Advice  to  Young  Men,  p.  83. 


THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  203 

each  person.  The  great  German  scholar  Heyne,  who 
has  shed  such  lustre  on  classical  learning,  in  the  order 
of  his  early  studies  allowed  himself,  for  six  months,  only 
two  nights'  sleep  in  a  week.  The  eccentric  Eobert  Hill, 
of  England,  who  passed  his  life  as  a  tailor,  but  by  per 
severing  labor  made  rare  attainments  in  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew,  was  accustomed  to  sit  up  very  late  into 
the  night,  or  else  to  rise  by  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  that  he  might  find  time  for  reading  without 
prejudice  to  his  trade,  and  although  of  a  weakly  con 
stitution,  he  accustomed  himself  to  do  very  well  with 
only  two  or  three  hours  of  sleep  in  the  twenty-four,  and 
he  lived  to  be  seventy-eight.  But  this  is  a  curiosity 
rather  than  an  example.  Such  also  is  the  story  of  the 
Roman  Emperor  Caligula,  who  slept  only  three  hours. 
In  the  list  of  men  sleeping  only  four  hours  is  Frederick 
of  Prussia,  John  Hunter,  the  surgeon,  Napoleon,  and 
Alexander  von  Humboldt.  That  gallant  cavalier  and 
accomplished  historian,  renowned  for  genius  and  mis 
fortune,  Sir  Walter  Kaleigh,  was  accustomed,  even  un 
der  the  pressure  of  his  arduous  career,  to  devote  four 
hours  daily  to  reading  and  study,  while  he  allowed  only 
five  for  sleep.  Probably  all  of  us,  in  our  own  personal 
experience,  have  known  men  of  study  and  labor  who,  in 
the  ardor  of  their  pursuit,  have  foregone  what  is  thought 
the  ordinary  sleep,  being  late  to  bed  and  early  to  rise, 
reducing  the  night  to  a  narrow  isthmus  of  time.  Others 
there  are  with  a  vivacity  of  industry  which  acts  with 
intensity  and  rapidity,  requiring  long  periods  of  re 
pose.  I  cannot  forget  that  Judge  Story,  the  person  who 
has  accomplished  more  than  any  one  within  the  circle 
of  my  individual  observation,  whose  life  —  now,  alas ! 
closed  by  death  —  was  thickly  studded  with  various  la- 


204  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

bors  as  judge,  professor,  and  author,  is  a  high  example 
of  what  may  be  wrought  by  wakeful  diligence,  without 
denying  the  body  any  refreshment  of  repose.  His 
habit,  during  the  years  of  his  greatest  intellectual  ac 
tivity,  was  to  retire  always  at  ten  o'clock  and  to  rise  at 
seven,  —  allowing  nine  hours  for  sleep.  The  tradesman 
of  George  the  Third  might  have  sought  shelter  with 
him  from  the  royal  raillery. 

Pursuing  these  inquiries  as  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
day,  we  find  the  precept,  if  not  the  example,  uniform 
with  regard  to  early  rising  as  propitious  to  health  and 
intellectual  exertion.  The  old  saw,  "  Early  to  bed  and 
early  to  rise,"  imprints  the  lesson  upon  the  mind  of 
childhood.  The  magnificent  period  of  Milton  sounds 
in  our  ears  :  "  My  morning  haunts  are  where  they  should 
be,  at  home, —  not  sleeping,  or  concocting  the  surfeits  of 
an  irregular  feast,  but  up  and  stirring, —  in  winter  often 
ere  the  sound  of  any  bell  awake  men  to  labor  or  to  de 
votion, — in  summer  as  oft  with  the  bird  that  first  rouses, 
or  not  much  tardier,  to  read  good  authors  or  cause  them 
to  be  read,  till  the  attention  be  weary  or  memory  have  its 
full  fraught, — then  with  useful  and  generous  labors  pre 
serving  the  body's  health  and  hardiness,  to  render  light 
some,  clear,  and  not  lumpish  obedience  to  the  mind,  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  and  our  country's  liberty." l  Sir  Walter 
Scott  is  less  stately  in  his  tribute  to  the  morning,  but 
he  agrees  with  Milton :  "  The  half-hour  between  waking 
and  rising  has  all  my  life  proved  propitious  to  any  task 
which  was  exercising  my  invention.  When  I  got  over 
any  knotty  difficulty  in  a  story,  or  have  had  in  former 
times  to  fill  up  a  passage  in  a  poem,  it  was  always  when 
I  first  opened  my  eyes  that  the  desired  ideas  thronged 

1  Apology  for  Smectymnuus :  Prose  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  220. 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF   TIME.  205 

upon  me.  This  is  so  much  the  case,  that  I  am  in  the 
habit  of  relying  upon  it,  and  saying  to  myself,  when  I 
am  at  a  loss,  '  Never  mind,  we  shall  have  it  at  seven 
o'clock  to-morrow  morning.'  If  I  have  forgot  a  circum 
stance,  or  a  name,  or  a  copy  of  verses,  it  is  the  same 
thing." l  In  this  equal  dedication  to  the  morning  Milton 
and  Scott  are  alike,  but  how  unlike  in  all  else !  Milton's 
testimony  is  like  an  anthem ;  Scott's  like  an  affidavit. 

Notwithstanding  these  great  examples  and  the  pre 
vailing  precept,  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  student  can  be 
weaned  from  those  habits  which  lead  him  to  continue 
his  vigils  far  into  the  watches  of  the  night.  From 
time  immemorial  he  has  been  said  to  "consume  the  mid 
night  oil,"  and  productions  marked  by  peculiar  care  are 
proverbially  reputed  to  "smell  of  the  lamp,"  never  to 
breathe  the  odor  of  the  morning.  An  ingenious  inquirer 
might  be  inclined  to  trace  in  different  writers,  partic 
ularly  in  poets,  the  distinctive  influence  of  the  hours 
they  devoted  to  labor,  and,  perhaps,  to  find  in  Milton  and 
Scott  the  freshness  and  vivid  colors  of  the  rosy-fingered 
dawn,  and  in  Schiller  and  Byron  the  sombre  shade  and 
sickly  glare  of  the  lamp.  Whatever  the  result  of  such 
speculations,  which  might  be  moralized  by  example,  the 
midnight  lamp  will  ever  be  regarded  as  the  symbol  of 
labor.  In  the  wonders  it  has  wrought  it  yields  only 
to  the  far-famed  lamp  of  Aladdin.  They  who  confess 
themselves  among  "  the  slaves  of  the  lamp  "  say  that 
there  is  an  excitement  in  study,  increasing  as  the  work 
proceeds;  which  flames  forth  with  new  brightness  at  the 
close  of  the  day  and  in  the  stillness  of  those  hours 
when  the  world  is  wrapped  in  sleep  and  the  student  is 
the  sole  watcher.  The  heavy  clock  seems  to  toll  the 

1  Diary:  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  Chap.  VII.  Vol.  VI.  p.  227. 


206  THE  EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME. 

midnight  hour  in  the  church-belfry  for  him  alone,  and, 
as  he  catches  its  distant  vibrations,  he  thinks  that  he 
hears  the  iron  hoof  of  Time  come  sounding  by.  All 
interruptions  are  ended,  and  he  is  in  closer  companion 
ship  with  his  books  and  studies.  He  holds  converse 
face  to  face  with  the  spirits  of  the  mighty  dead,  while 
the  learned  page  and  glowing  verse  become  vocal  with 
inspiring  thought.  The  poet  speaks  to  him  with  richer 
melodies,  and  the  soul  responds  in  new  and  more  gen 
erous  resolves. 

It  is  not  for  me  on  this  occasion  to  interpose  any 
judgment  on  a  question  which  comes  within  the  pre 
cincts  of  physiology.  My  present  purpose  is  accom 
plished,  if  I  teach  the  husbandry  of  time.  To  this  end 
I  have  adduced  authority  and  example.  But  there  are 
other  considerations  which  enforce  the  lesson  with  per 
suasive  power. 

In  the  employment  of  time  will  be  found  the  sure 
means  of  happiness.  The  laborer  living  by  the  sweat 
of  his  brow,  and  the  youth  toiling  in  perplexities  of 
business  or  study,  sighs  for  repose,  and  repines  at  the 
law  which  ordains  the  seeming  hardship  of  his  lot. 
He  seeks  happiness  as  the  end  and  aim  of  life,  but  he 
does  not  open  his  mind  to  the  important  truth  that 
occupation  is  indispensable  to  happiness.  He  shuns 
work,  but  he  does  not  know  the  precious  jewel  hidden 
beneath  its  rude  attire.  Others  there  are  who  wander 
over  half  the  globe  in  pursuit  of  what  is  found  under 
the  humblest  roof  of  virtuous  industry,  in  the  shadow 
of  every  tree  planted  by  one's  own  hand.  The  poet  has 
said,  — 

"  The  best  and  sweetest  far  are  toil-created  gains." 

But  this  does  not  disclose  the  whole  truth.     There  is 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  207 

in  useful  labor  its  own  exceeding  great  reward,  without 
regard  to  gain. 

The  happiness  found  in  occupation  is  the  frequent 
theme  of  the  moralist,  but  nobody  has  illustrated  it 
with  more  power  than  Luther  in  his  Table-Talk,  where 
he  presents  an  image  of  the  human  mind  which  has 
always  seemed  to  me  one  of  the  most  striking  in  the 
whole  range  of  literature.  Let  me  give  it  in  the  strong 
and  fibrous  diction  of  the  ancient  translation  from  the 
original  Latin. 

"  The  heart  of  an  humane  creature  is  like  a  mill-stone 
in  a  mill :  when  corn  is  shaked  thereupon,  it  runneth 
about,  rubbeth  and  grindeth  it  to  meal ;  but  if  no  corn 
bee  present  (the  stone  nevertheless  running  still  about), 
then  it  rubbeth  and  grindeth  it  self  thinner,  and  becom- 
eth  less  and  smaller:  even  so  the  heart  of  an  humane 
creature  will  bee  occupied ;  if  it  hath  not  the  works 
of  its  vocation  in  hand  to  bee  busied  therein,  then  com- 
eth  the  Divel  and  shooteth  thereinto  tribulations,  heavie 
cogitations  and  vexations,  as  then  the  heart  consumeth 
it  self  with  melancholic,  insomuch  that  it  must  starv 
and  famish." 1  That  it  may  not  starve  and  famish,  it 
must  be  supplied  with  something  to  do  ;  and  its  hap 
piness  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  completeness  with 
which  all  its  faculties  are  brought  into  activity. 

It  is  according  to  God's  Providence  that  there  should 
be  pleasure  in  the  exercise  of  all  the  powers  with  which 
we  are  blessed.  There  is  pleasure  in  seeing  the  sights 
and  catching  the  sounds  of  Nature.  There  is  pleasure 
in  the  exercise  of  the  limbs,  even  in  extending  an  arm 

1  Dr.  Martin  Luther's  Divine  Discourses  at  his  Table,  etc.,  translated  out 
of  the  High  Germane  into  the  English  Tongue  by  Capt.  Henrie  Bell,  Lon 
don,  1652  :  Chap.  XXXVII.,  Of  Tribulation  and  Temptation,  p.  397. 


208  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

or  moving  a  muscle.  Higher  degrees  of  pleasure  are 
allotted  to  the  exercise  of  the  higher  faculties.  There 
is  pleasure  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge,  —  pleasure 
in  the  performance  of  duty,  —  pleasure  in  all  the  labors 
by  which  we  promote  our  own  progress,  —  pleasure 
higher  still  in  those  by  which  we  promote  the  progress 
of  others. 

If  this  be  so,  —  and  surely  it  will  not  be  doubted,  — 
then  is  it  our  duty  to  regulate  our  habits  so  as  to  culti 
vate  all  the  faculties,  to  the  end  that  Time  shall  yield 
its  choicest  fruits.  When  I  speak  of  all  the  faculties,  I 
mean  all  those  which  enter  into  and  form  the  character 
created  in  the  image  of  God,  not  merely  those  which 
minister  to  the  selfish  ends  of  life.  There  are  faculties 
for  business  ;  there  are  others  which  open  to  us  the 
avenues  of  knowledge,  —  others  which  connect  us  by 
chains  soft  as  silk,  but  strong  as  iron,  to  the  social 
and  domestic  circle,  —  others  still  which  reveal  to  us, 
in  vistas  of  infinite  variety  and  inconceivable  extension, 
our  duties  to  God  and  man.  Nor  can  any  one  reason 
ably  persuade  himself  that  he  has  done  his  whole  duty, 
and  employed  his  time  to  the  best  purpose,  who  has 
neglected  any  of  these,  although  he  may  have  sacrificed 
much  to  the  others.  Success  in  business  will  not  com 
pensate  for  neglect  of  general  culture  ;  nor  will  attend 
ance  on  "  the  stated  preaching  of  the  gospel "  atone  for 
a  want  of  interest  in  the  great  charities  of  life,  in  the 
education  of  the  people,  in  the  sufferings  of  the  poor,  in 
the  sorrows  of  the  slave. 

There  is  a  tendency  to  absorption  by  one  pursuit  or 
one  idea,  against  which  we  must  especially  guard.  The 
mere  man  of  business  is  "  a  man  of  one  idea," 1  and  his 

1  At  the  date  of  this  Lecture  the  Abolitionist  was  constantly  taunted, 
especially  by  business  men,  as  "  the  man  of  one  idea." 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  209 

solitary  idea  has  its  root  in  no  generous  or  humane  de 
sires,  but  in  selfishness.  He  lives  for  himself  alone. 
He  ma*y  send  his  freights  to  the  most  distant  quarters 
of  the  earth,  and  receive  therefrom  returning  argosies, 
but  his  real  horizon  is  restricted  to  the  narrow  circle  of 
his  own  personal  interests  ;  nor  does  his  worldly  nature, 
elated  by  the  profits  of  cent  per  cent,  see  with  eye  of 
sympathy,  in  cotton  sold  or  sugar  bought,  the  drops  of 
blood  falling  from  the  unhappy  slaves  out  of  whose  la 
bor  they  were  wrung.  In  the  mere  man  of  business  the 
individual  is  lost  in  the  profession  or  calling,  thinking 
only  of  that,  and  caring  little  for  other  things  of  life. 
He  is  known  by  the  character  that  business  impresses 
upon  him.  He  is  untiring  in  its  pursuit,  but  with  no 
true  progress,  for  each  day  renews  its  predecessor. 
Benevolence  calls,  but  he  is  deaf,  or  satisfies  his  con 
science  by  a  dole  of  money.  Literature  exhibits  her 
charms,  but  he  is  insensible.  And  innocent  recreation 
makes  her  pleasant  appeal,  but  he  will  not  listen.  He 
is  absorbed,  engrossed,  filled  in  every  vein  by  the  "one 
idea "  of  business  with  new  methods  of  adding  to  his 
increasing  gains,  as  the  mouth  of  the  money-seeking 
Crassus  was  filled  by  the  Parthians  with  molten  gold. 

We  learn  to  deride  the  pedant  who  sacrifices  every 
thing  to  the  accumulation  of  empty  learning,  which  he 
displays  at  all  times,  as  a  peddler  his  wares.  The  im 
age  of  Dominie  Sampson,  in  Scott's  novel  of  "  Guy  Man- 
nering,"  is  a  happy  scarecrow  to  frighten  us  from  his 
"  one  idea."  But  the  merchant  whose  only  talk  is  of 
markets,  the  farmer  whose  only  talk  is  of  bullocks,  and 
the  lawyer  whose  only  talk  is  of  his  cases,  are  all  Domi 
nie  Sampsons  in  their  way.  They  have  all  missed  that 
completeness  and  harmony  of  development  essential  to 


210  THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME. 

the  balance  of  the  faculties  and  to  the  best  usefulness. 
They  have  become  richer  in  this  world's  goods ;  but 
they  have  sacrificed  what  money  cannot  supply,  —  a  gen 
eral  intelligence,  an  independence  of  calling  or  position, 
and  a  catholic,  liberal  spirit.  In  the  prejudices  engen 
dered  by  exclusive  devotion  to  a  single  pursuit,  they 
have  lost  one  of  the  most  important  attributes  of  man, 
—  the  power  to  receive  and  appreciate  truth. 

It  is  a  common  saying,  handed  down  with  reverence 
in  my  own  profession,  where  it  is  attested  at  once  by 
Bacon  and  by  Coke,  that  "every  man  owes  a  debt  to 
his  profession."  If  by  this  is  meant  that  every  man 
should  seek  to  elevate  his  profession,  and  to  increase  its 
usefulness,  the  saying  is  a  truism,  although  valuable  as 
at  least  one  remove  from  individual  selfishness.  But  is 
it  not  too  often  construed  so  as  to  exclude  exertion  in 
any  other  walk,  or  to  serve  as  a  cloak  for  indifference 
to  other  things  ?  Important  as  this  debt  may  be,  —  and 
I  will  not  disparage  it,  —  not  for  this  alone  are  we  sent 
into  the  world.  There  are  other  debts  which  must  not 
be  postponed.  Man  was  not  thus  fearfully  and  won 
derfully  made,  —  the  cunningest  pattern  of  excelling 
Nature,  —  endowed  with  infinite  faculties,  —  traversing 
with  the  angels  the  blue  floor  of  Heaven, — ranging 
with  light  from  system  to  system  of  the  Universe, — 
descending  to  the  earth  and  receiving  in  bountiful  lar 
gess  all  its  hoarded  treasures,  —  girdling  the  globe  with 
the  peaceful  embrace  of  commerce,  —  imposing  chains 
even  upon  the  lawless  sea, — making  the  winds  and 
elements  do  his  bidding,  —  summoning  to  his  company 
all  that  is  and  all  that  has  been  the  good  and  great  of 
all  times,  exemplars  of  truth,  liberty,  and  virtue,  all 
the  grand  procession  of  history,  —  formed  to  throb  at 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  211 

every  deed  of  generosity  and  self-sacrifice,  and  to  send 
forth  Ms  sympathies  wider  and  sweeter  than  any 
south-wind  blowing  over  beds  of  violets,  until  they 
reach  the  most  distant  sufferer,  —  formed  for  the  acqui 
sition  of  knowledge  and  of  science, — gifted  to  enjoy 
the  various  feast  of  letters  and  art,  the  breathing  can 
vas  and  marble,  the  infinite  many-choired  voices  of  all 
the  sons  of  genius  who  have  written  or  spoken,  the 
beauty  of  mountain,  field,  and  river,  the  dazzling  dra 
pery  of  the  winter  snow,  the  glory  of  sunset,  the  blush 
ing  of  the  rose,  —  man  was  not  made  with  all  these 
capacities,  looking  before  and  after,  spanning  the  vast 
outstretched  Past,  penetrating  the  vaster  unfathomable 
Future,  with  all  its  images  of  beauty,  merely  to  follow 
a  profession  or  a  trade,  merely  to  be  a  merchant,  a  law 
yer,  a  mechanic,  a  soldier. 

"  So  God  created  man  in  his  own  image ;  in  the  im 
age  of  God  created  he  him."  The  image  of  God  is  in 
the  soul,  and  the  young  must  take  heed  that  it  is  not 
effaced  by  the  neglect  of  any  of  the  trusts  they  have 
received.  They  must  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  debts 
other  than  to  their  profession  or  business,  which,  like 
gratitude,  it  will  ever  be  their  pleasure,  "still  paying, 
still  to  owe,"  —  which  can  be  properly  discharged  only 
by  the  best  employment  of  all  the  faculties  with  which 
they  are  blessed,  —  so  that  life  shall  be  improved  by 
culture  and  filled  with  works  for  the  good  of  man. 

In  no  respect  would  I  weaken  any  just  attachment 
to  the  business  of  one's  choice.  Goethe  advised  every 
one  to  read-  daily  a  short  poem ;  and  in  the  same  spirit 
would  I  refine  and  elevate  business  by  the  chastening 
influence  of  other  pursuits,  by  enlarging  the  intelligence, 
by  widening  the  sphere  of  observation  and  interest,  by 
awakening  new  sympathies. 


212  THE  EMPLOYMENT  OF  TIME. 

In  the  faithful  husbandry  of  time,  in  the  aggregation 
of  all  its  particles  of  golden  sand,  is  the  tirst  stage  of 
individual  progress.  With  the  living  spirit  of  industry, 
the  student  will  find  his  way  easy.  Difficulties  cannot 
permanently  obstruct  his  resolute  career.  He  will  re 
member  "  rare  Ben  Jonson,"  one  of  England's  admired 
and  most  learned  bards,  working  as  a  bricklayer  with  a 
trowel  in  his  hand  and  a  book  in  his  pocket,  —  Burns, 
wooing  his  muse  as  he  followed  the  plough  on  the  moun 
tain-side,  —  the  beloved  German  Jean  Paul,  composing 
his  earliest  works  by  the  music  of  the  simmering  kettles 
in  his  mother's  humble  kitchen,  —  and  Franklin,  while 
a  printer's  boy,  straitened  by  small  means,  beginning 
those  studies  and  labors  which  make  him  an  example  to 
mankind. 

Seek,  then,  occupation  ;  seek  labor ;  seek  to  employ 
all  the  faculties,  whether  in  study  or  conduct,  —  not  in 
words  only,  but  in  deeds  also,  mindful  that  "  words  are 
the  daughters  of  Earth,  but  deeds  are  the  sons  of  Heaven." 
So  shall  you  eat  of  that  fabled  fruit  growing  on  the 
banks  of  the  river  of  Delight,  whereby  men  gain  a 
blessed  course  of  life  without  one  moment  of  sadness. 
So  shall  your  days  be  filled  with  usefulness,  — 

"  And  when  old  Time  *hall  lend  yon  to  your  end, 
Goodness  and  you  fill  tip  one  monument." 

There  is  a  legend  of  Friar  Roger  Bacon,  so  conspic 
uous  in  what  may  be  called  the  mythology  of  modern 
science,  which  enforces  the  importance  of  seizing  the 
present  moment ;  nor  could  I  hope  to  close  this  appeal 
with  anything  better  calculated  to  impress  upon  all  the 
lesson  I  have  sought  to  teach.  With  wizard  skill  he 
had  succeeded  in  constructing  a  brazen  head,  which,  by 
unimaginable  contrivance,  after  unknown  lapse  of  time, 


THE   EMPLOYMENT   OF  TIME.  213 

was  to  speak  and  declare  important  knowledge.  Weary 
with  watching  for  the  auspicious  moment,  which  had 
been  prolonged  through  successive  weeks,  he  had  sought 
the  refreshment  of  sleep,  leaving  his  man  Miles  to  ob 
serve  the  head,  and  to  awaken  him  at  once,  if  it  should 
speak,  that  he  might  not  fail  to  interrogate  it.  Shortly 
after  he  had  sunk  to  rest,  the  head  spake  these  words, 
Time  is.  But  the  foolish  guardian  heeded  them  not, 
nor  the  commands  of  his  master,  whom  he  allowed  to 
slumber  unconscious  of  the  auspicious  moment.  Anoth 
er  half-hour  passed  and  the  head  spake  the  words,  Time 
was,  which  Miles  still  heeded  not.  Another  half-hour 
passed,  and  the  head  spake  yet  other  words,  Time  is  past, 
and  straightway  fell  to  the  earth,  shivered  in  pieces, 
with  a  terrible  crash  and  strange  flashes  of  fire,  so  that 
Miles  was  half  dead  with  fear ;  and  his  master  awoke 
to  behold  {-he  workmanship  of  his  cunning  hand  and 
the  hopes  he  had  builded  thereupon  shattered,  while  the 
voice  from  the  brazen  throat  still  sounded  in  his  ears, 
TIME  is  PAST  1 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  THE  LATE 
JOHN  PICKERING. 

ARTICLE  IN  THE  LAW  REPORTER  OF  JUNE,  1846. 


IT  was  a  remark  of  Lord  Brougham,  illustrated  by  his 
own  crowded  life,  that  the  complete  performance 
of  all  the  duties  of  an  active  member  of  the  British 
Parliament  might  be  joined  to  a  full  practice  at  the  bar. 
The  career  of  the  late  Mr.  Pickering  illustrates  a  more 
grateful  truth :  that  the  mastery  of  the  law  as  a  science 
and  the  constant  performance  of  all  the  duties  of  a  prac 
titioner  are  not  incompatible  with  the  studies  of  the 
most  various  scholarship, —  that  the  lawyer  and  the 
scholar  may  be  one.  He  dignified  the  law  by  the  suc 
cessful  cultivation  of  letters,  and  strengthened  the 
influence  of  these  elegant  pursuits  by  becoming  their 
representative  in  the  concerns  of  daily  life  and  in  the 
labors  of  his  profession.  And  now  that  this  living  ex 
ample  of  excellence  is  withdrawn,  we  feel  a  sorrow 
which  words  can  only  faintly  express.  "We  would  de 
vote  a  few  moments  to  the  contemplation  of  what  he 
did  and  what  he  was.  The  language  of  exaggeration  is 
forbidden  by  the  modesty  of  his  nature,  as  it  is  rendered 
unnecessary  by  the  multitude  of  his  virtues. 

JOHN  PICKERING,  whose  recent  death  we  deplore,  was 
born  in  Salem,  February  7,  1777,  at  the  darkest  and 


THE  LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  215 

most  despondent  period  of  the  Eevolution.  His  father, 
Colonel  Pickering,  was  a  man  of  distinguished  charac 
ter  and  an  eminent  actor  in  public  affairs,  whose  name 
belongs  to  the  history  of  our  country.  Of  his  large 
family  of  ten  children  John  was  the  eldest.1  His  dil 
igence  at  school  was  a  source  of  early  gratification  to 
his  family,  and  gave  augury  of  future  accomplishments. 
An  authentic  token  of  this  character,  beyond  any  tra 
dition  of  partial  friends,  is  afforded  by  a  little  book 
entitled  "Letters  to  a  Student  in  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  by  John  Clarke,  Minister  of 
a  Church  in  Boston,"  printed  in  1796,  and  in  reality 
addressed  to  him.  The  first  letter  begins  with  an  hon 
orable  allusion  to  his  early  improvement.  "  Your  supe 
rior  qualifications  for  admission  into  the  University  give 
you  singular  advantages  for  the  prosecution  of  your 

studies You  are  now  placed  in  a  situation  to 

become,  what  you  have  often  assured  me  is  your  ambi 
tion,  a  youth  of  learning  and  virtue"  The  last  letter 
of  the  volume  concludes  with  benedictions,  which  did 
not  fall  as  barren  words  upon  the  heart  of  the  youthful 
pupil.  "  May  you,"  says  Dr.  Clarke,  "  be  one  of  those 
sons  who  do  honor  to  their  literary  parent.  The  union 
of  virtue  and  science  will  give  you  distinction  at  the 
present  age,  and  will  tend  to  give  celebrity  to  the  name 
of  Harvard.  You  will  not  disappoint  the  friends  who 
anticipate  your  improvements."  They  who  remember 
his  college  days  still  dwell  with  fondness  upon  his  ex 
emplary  character  and  his  remarkable  scholarship.  He 
received  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  at  Cambridge 
in  1796. 

1  The  reporter,  Octavius  Pickering,  was  so  named  from  bis  bejng  the 
eighth  child. 


216  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

On  leaving  the  University  he  went  to  Philadelphia, 
at  that  time  the  seat  of  government,  his  father  being 
Secretary  of  State.  Here  he  commenced  the  study  of 
the  law  under  Mr.  Tilghman,  afterwards  the  distin 
guished  Chief  Justice  of  Pennsylvania,  and  one  of  the 
lights  of  American  jurisprudence.  But  his  professional 
lucubrations  were  soon  suspended  by  his  appointment, 
in  1797,  as  Secretary  of  Legation  to  Portugal.  In  this 
capacity  he  resided  at  Lisbon  for  two  years,  during 
which  time  he  became  familiar  with  the  language  and 
literature  of  the  country.  Later  in  life,  when  his  ex 
tensive  knowledge  of  foreign  tongues  opened  to  him 
the  literature  of  the  world,  he  recurred  with  peculiar 
pleasure  to  the  language  of  Camoens  and  PombaL 

From  Lisbon  he  passed  to  London,  where,  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century,  he  became,  for  about  two  years,  the 
private  secretary  of  our  Minister,  Mr.  King,  residing  in 
the  family  and  enjoying  the  society  and  friendship  of 
this  distinguished  representative  of  his  country.  Here  he 
was  happy  in  meeting  with  his  classmate  and  attached 
friend,  Dr.  James  Jackson,  of  Boston,  then  in  London, 
pursuing  those  medical  studies  whose  ripened  autumnal 
fruits  of  usefulness  and  eminence  he  still  lives  to  en 
joy.  In  pleasant  companionship  they  perambulated  the 
thoroughfares  of  the  great  metropolis,  enjoying  together 
its  shows  and  attractions ;  in  pleasant  companionship 
they  continued  ever  afterwards,  till  death  severed  the 
ties  of  long  life. 

Mr.  Pickering's  youth  and  inexperience  in  the  profes 
sion  to  which  he  afterwards  devoted  his  days  prevented 
his  taking  any  special  interest,  at  this  period,  in  the 
courts  or  in  Parliament  But  there  were  several  of  the 
judges  who  made  a  strong  impression  on  his  mind; 


THE   LATE   JOHN   PICKERING.  217 

nor  did  he  ever  cease  to  remember  the  vivacious  elo 
quence  of  Erskine  or  the  commanding  oratory  of  Pitt. 

Meanwhile,  his  father,  being  no  longer  in  the  public 
service,  had  returned  to  Salem  ;  and  thither  the  son  fol 
lowed,  in  1801,  resuming  the  study  of  the  law,  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Putnam,  afterwards  a  learned  and 
beloved  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts, 
whose  rare  fortune  it  has  been  to  rear  two  pupils  whose 
fame  will  be  among  the  choicest  possessions  of  our 
country,  —  Story  and  Pickering.  In  due  time  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  the 
law  in  Salem. 

Here  begins  the  long,  unbroken  series  of  his  labors  in 
literature  and  philology,  running  side  by  side  with  the 
daily,  untiring  business  of  his  profession.  It  is  easy  to 
believe,  that,  notwithstanding  his  undissembled  predilec 
tion  for  jurisprudence  as  a  science,  he  was  drawn  towards 
its  practice  by  the  compulsion  of  duty  rather  than  by 
any  attraction  it  possessed  for  him.  Not  removed  by 
fortune  from  the  necessity,  to  which  Dr.  Johnson  so 
pathetically  alludes,  of  providing  for  the  day  that  was 
passing  over  him,  he  could  indulge  his  taste  for  study 
only  in  hours  secured  by  diligence  from  the  inroads  of 
business  or  refused  to  the  seductions  of  pleasure.  Since 
the  oration  for  Archias,  perhaps  no  lawyer  ever  lived 
who  could  have  uttered  with  greater  truth  the  inspiring 
words  with  which,  in  that  remarkable  production,  the 
Eoman  orator  confessed  and  vindicated  the  cultivation 
of  letters :  "  Me  autem  quid  pudeat,  qui  tot  annos  ita 
vivo,  judices,  ut  ab  nullius  unquam  me  tempore  aut 
commodo  aut  otium  meum  abstraxerit,  aut  voluptas  avo- 
carit,  aut  denique  somnus  retardarit  ?  Quare  quis  tan 
dem  me  reprehendat,  aut  quis  mihi  jure  succenseat,  si, 

VOL.    I.  10 


218  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

quantum  cseteris  ad  suas  res  obeundas,  quantum  ad  fes- 
tos  dies  ludorum  celebrandos,  quantum  ad  alias  volup- 
tates,  et  ad  ipsam  requiem  animi  et  corporis  conceditur 
temporum,  quantum  alii  tribuunt  tempestivis  conviviis, 
quantum  denique  aleae,  quantum  pilae,  tantum  mihi 
egomet  ad  haec  studia  recolenda  sunipsero?"1 

In  his  life  may  be  seen  two  streams  flowing  side  by 
side,  as  through  a  long  tract  of  country :  one  fed  by  the 
fresh  fountains  high  up  in  the  mountain-tops,  whose 
waters  leap  with  delight  on  their  journey  to  the  sea ; 
while  the  other,  having  its  sources  low  down  in  the 
valleys,  among  the  haunts  of  men,  moves  with  reluctant, 
though  steady,  current  onward. 

Mr  Pickering's  days  were  passed  in  the  performance 
of  all  the  duties  of  a  wide  and  various  practice,  first  at 
Salem,  and  afterwards  at  Boston.  He  resided  at  the 
former  place  till  1827,  when  he  removed  to  the  me 
tropolis,  where  two  years  afterwards  he  became  City 
Solicitor,  an  office  whose  arduous  labors  he  continued 
to  discharge  until  within  a  few  months  of  his  death. 
There  is  little  worthy  of  notice  in  the  ordinary  inci 
dents  of  professional  life.  What  Blackstone  aptly  calls 
"the  pert  dispute"  renews  itself  in  infinitely  varying 
form.  Some  new  turn  of  litigation  calls  forth  some  new 
effort  of  learning  or  skill,  calculated  to  serve  its  tem 
porary  purpose,  and,  like  the  manna  which  fell  in  the 
desert,  perishing  on  the  day  that  beholds  it.  The  un 
ambitious  labors  of  which  the  world  knows  nothing,  the 
advice  to  clients,  the  drawing  of  contracts,  the  perplexi 
ties  of  conveyancing  furnish  still  less  of  interest  than 
ephemeral  displays  of  the  court-room. 

The  cares  of  his  profession  and  the  cultivation  of  let- 

1  Pro  Archia,  c.  6. 


THE   LATE   JOHN   PICKERING.  219 

ters  left  but  little  time  for  the  concerns  of  politics. 
And  yet,  at  different  periods,  he  filled  offices  in  the  Legis 
lature  of  Massachusetts.  He  was  three  times  Repre 
sentative  from  Salem,  twice  Senator  from  Essex,  once 
Senator  from  Suffolk,  and  once  a  member  of  the  Exec 
utive  Council.  In  all  these  places  he  commended  him 
self  by  the  same  diligence,  honesty,  learning,  and  ability 
which  marked  his  course  at  the  bar.  The  careful  stu 
dent  of  our  legislative  history  will  not  fail  to  perceive 
his  obligations  to  Mr.  Pickering,  as  the  author  of  im 
portant  reports  and  bills.  The  first  bill  for  the  separa 
tion  of  Maine  from  Massachusetts  was  reported  to  the 
Senate  by  him  in  1816,  and  though  the  object  failed 
for  the  time  with  the  people  of  Maine,  the  bill  is  char 
acterized  by  the  historian  of  that  State  as  "  drawn  with 
great  ability  and  skill." l  The  report  and  accompanying 
bill  on  the  jurisdiction  and  proceedings  of  the  Courts 
of  Probate,  discussing  and  remodelling  the  whole  sys 
tem,  were  from  his  hand. 

In  1833  he  was  appointed  to  the  vacancy,  occasioned 
by  the  death  of  Professor  Ashmuu,  in  the  commission 
for  revising  and  arranging  the  statutes  of  Massachusetts, 
being  associated  in  this  important  work  with  those  emi 
nent  lawyers,  Mr.  Jackson  and  Mr.  Stearns.  The  first 
part,  or  that  entitled  Of  the  Internal  Administration  of 
the  Government,  corresponding  substantially  with  Black- 
stone's  division  Of  the  Rights  of  Persons,  was  executed  by 
him.  This  alone  entitles  him  to  be  gratefully  remem 
bered,  not  only  by  those  having  occasion  to  consult  the 
legislation  of  Massachusetts,  but  by  all  who  feel  an  in 
terest  in  scientific  jurisprudence. 

His  contributions  to  what  may  be  called  the  litera- 

1  Williamson,  History  of  Maine,  Vol.  II.  p.  668. 


220  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

ture  of  his  profession  were  frequent.  The  American 
Jurist  was  often  enriched  by  articles  from  his  pen. 
Among  these  is  a  review  of  the  valuable  work  of  Wil 
liams  on  the  Law  of  Executors,  and  of  Curtis's  Admi 
ralty  Digest,  where  he  examined  the  interesting  history 
of  this  jurisdiction ;  also  an  article  on  the  Study  of  the 
Roman  Law,  where,  within  a  short  compass,  he  presented 
a  lucid  history  of  this  system,  and  the  growth  in  Ger 
many  of  the  historical  and  didactic  schools,  "rival 
houses,"  as  they  may  be  called,  in  jurisprudence,  whose 
long  and  unpleasant  feud  has  only  recently  subsided. 

In  the  Law  Reporter  for  September,  1841,  he  published 
an  article  of  singular  merit,  on  National  Rights  and  State 
Rights,  being  a  review  of  the  case  of  Alexander  Mc- 
Leod,  recently  determined  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  New 
York.  This  was  afterwards  republished  in  a  pamphlet, 
and  extensively  circulated.  It  is  marked  by  uncommon 
learning,  clearness,  and  power.  The  course  of  the  courts 
of  New  York  is  handled  with  freedom,  and  the  suprem 
acy  of  the  Government  vindicated.  Of  all  the  discus 
sions  elicited  by  that  interesting  question,  on  which,  for 
a  while,  seemed  to  hang  the  portentous  issues  of  peace 
and  war  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
that  of  Mr.  Pickering  will  be  admitted  to  take  the  lead, 
whether  we  consider  its  character  as  an  elegant  compo 
sition,  or  as  a  searching  review  of  the  juridical  questions 
involved.  In  dealing  with  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Justice 
Cowen,  renowned  for  black-letter  and  the  bibliography 
of  the  law,  he  shows  himself  more  than  a  match  for 
this  learned  Judge,  even  in  these  unfrequented  fields, 
while  the  spirit  of  the  publicist  and  jurist  gives  a  re 
fined  temper  to  the  whole  article,  which  we  vainly  seek 
in  the  other  production. 


THE   LATE   JOHN   PICKERING.  221 

In  the  North  American  Eeview  for  October,  1840,  is  an 
article  by  him,  illustrative  of  Conveyancing  in  Ancient 
Egypt,  being  an  explanation  of  an  Egyptian  deed  of  a 
piece  of  land  in  hundred-gated  Thebes,  written  on  papy 
rus,  more  than  a  century  before  the  Christian  era,  with  the 
impression  of  a  seal  or  stamp  attached,  and  a  certificate 
of  registry  in  the  margin,  in  as  regular  a  manner  as  the 
keeper  of  the  registry  in  the  County  of  Suffolk  would 
certify  to  a  deed  of  land  in  the  City  of  Boston  at  this 
day.  Jurisprudence  is  here  adorned  by  scholarship. 

There  is  another  production  which,  like  the  preceding, 
belongs  to  the  department  of  literature  as  well  as  of 
jurisprudence  :  his  Lecture  on  the  Alleged  Uncertainty 
of  the  Law,  delivered  before  the  Boston  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge.  Though  written  origi 
nally  for  the  general  mind,  which  it  is  calculated  to 
interest  and  instruct  in  no  common  degree,  it  will  be 
read  with  equal  advantage  by  the  profound  lawyer.  It 
is  not  easy  to  mention  any  popular  discussion  of  a  jurid 
ical  character,  in  our  language,  deserving  of  higher  re 
gard.  It  was  first  published  in  the  American  Jurist, 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  writer  of  this  sketch,  who  has 
never  referred  to  it  without  fresh  admiration  of  the 
happy  illustrations  and  quiet  reasoning  by  which  it 
vindicates  the  science  of  the  law. 

In  considering  what  Mr.  Pickering  accomplished  out 
of  his  profession,  we  are  led  over  wide  and  various 
fields  of  learning,  where  we  can  only  hope  to  indicate 
his  footprints,  without  presuming  to  examine  or  describe 
the  ground. 

One  of  his  earliest  cares  was  to  elevate  the  character 
of  classical  studies  in  our  country.  In  this  respect  his 


222  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

own  example  did  much.  From  the  time  he  left  the 
University,  he  was  always  regarded  as  an  authority  on 
topics  of  scholarship.  But  his  labors  were  devoted 
especially  to  this  cause.  As  early  as  1805,  in  conjunc 
tion  with  his  friend,  the  present  Judge  White,  of  Salem, 
he  published  an  edition  of  the  Histories  of  Sallust  with 
Latin  notes  and  a  copious  index.  This  is  one  of  the  first 
examples,  in  our  country,  of  a  classic  edited  with  schol 
arly  skill.  The  same  spirit  led  him,  later  in  life,  to 
publish  in  the  North  American  Review,  and  afterwards 
in  a  pamphlet, "  Observations  on  the  Importance  of  Greek 
Literature,  and  the  Best  Method  of  Studying  the  Clas 
sics,"  translated  from  the  Latin  of  Professor  Wyttenbach. 
In  the  course  of  the  remarks  with  which  he  introduces 
the  translation,  he  urges  with  conclusive  force  the  im 
portance  of  raising  the  standard  of  education  in  our 
country.  "  We  are  too  apt,"  he  says,  "  to  consider  our 
selves  as  an  insulated  people,  as  not  belonging  to  the 
great  community  of  Europe ;  but  we  are,  in  truth,  just 
as  much  members  of  it,  by  means  of  a  common  public 
law,  commercial  intercourse,  literature,  a  kindred  lan 
guage  and  habits,  as  Englishmen  or  Frenchmen  them 
selves  are;  and  we  must  procure  for  ourselves  the 
qualifications  necessary  to  maintain  that  rank  which  we 
shall  claim  as  equal  members  of  such  a  community." 

His  Remarks  on  Greek  Grammars,  which  appeared  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Education  in  1825,  belongs  to 
the  same  field  of  labor,  as  does  also  his  admirable  paper, 
published  in  1818,  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  American 
Academy,  on  the  Proper  Pronunciation  of  the  Ancient 
Greek  Language.1  He  maintained  that  it  should  be  pro- 

l  " Observations  upon  the  Greek  Accent"  is  the  title  of  an  e«say  in  the 
Royal  Irish  Transactions,  Vol.  VII.,  by  Dr.  Browne,  suggested,  like  Mr.  Pick- 


THE   LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  223 

nounced,  as  far  as  possible,  according  to  the  Romaic  or 
modern  Greek,  and  learnedly  exposed  the  vicious  usage 
introduced  by  Erasmus.  His  conclusions,  though  con 
troverted  when  first  presented,  are  now  substantially 
adopted  by  scholars.  We  well  remember  his  honest 
pleasure  in  a  communication  received  within  a  few 
years  from  President  Moore,  of  Columbia  College,  in 
which  that  gentleman,  who  had  once  opposed  his  views, 
announced  his  change,  and,  with  the  candor  that  be 
comes  his  honorable  scholarship,  volunteered  to  them 
the  sanction  of  his  approbation. 

The  Greek  and  English  Lexicon  is  his  work  of  greatest 
labor  in  the  department  of  classical  learning.  This  alone 
would  entitle  him  to  praise  from  all  who  love  liberal 
studies.  With  the  well-thumbed  copy  of  this  book,  used 
in  college  days,  now  before  us,  we  feel  how  much  we  are 
debtor  to  his  learned  toil.  Planned  early  in  Mr.  Pick 
ering's  life,  it  was  begun  in  1814.  The  interruptions  of 
his  profession  induced  him  to  engage  the  assistance  of 
the  late  Dr.  Daniel  Oliver,  Professor  of  Moral  and  Intel 
lectual  Philosophy  at  Dartmouth  College.  The  work, 
proceeding  slowly,  was  not  announced  by  a  prospectus 
until  1820,  and  not  finally  published  until  1826.  It  was 
mainly  founded  on  the  well-known  Lexicon  of  Schreve- 
lius,  which  had  received  the  emphatic  commendation  of 
Vicesimus  Knox,  and  was  generally  regarded  as  prefer 
able  to  any  other  for  the  use  of  schools.  When  Mr. 
Pickering  commenced  his  labors  there  was  no  Greek 
Lexicon  with  definitions  in  our  own  tongue.  The  Eng 
lish  student  obtained  his  knowledge  of  Greek  through 

ering's,  by  conversation  with  some  modern  Greeks,  and  touching  upon  sim 
ilar  topics.  Dr.  Browne  is  the  author  of  the  learned  and  somewhat  antedi 
luvian  book  on  the  Civil  and  Admiralty  Law. 


224  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

the  intervention  of  Latin.  And  it  is  supposed  by  many, 
who  have  not  sufficiently  regarded  other  relations  of  the 
subject,  as  we  are  inclined  to  believe,  that  this  circuitous 
and  awkward  practice  is  a  principal  reason  why  Greek 
is  so  much  less  familiar  to  us  than  Latin.  In  honorable 
efforts  to  remove  this  difficulty  our  countryman  took  the 
lead.  Shortly  before  the  last  sheets  of  his  Lexicon  were 
printed,  a  copy  of  a  London  translation  of  Schrevelius 
reached  this  country,  which  proved,  however  to  be  "  a 
hurried  performance,  upon  which  it  would  not  have  been 
safe  to  rely." * 

Since  the  publication  of  his  Lexicon,  several  others 
in  Greek  and  English  have  appeared  in  England.  The 
example  of  Germany  and  the  learning  of  her  scholars 
have  contributed  to  these  works.  It  were  to  be  wished 
that  all  of  them  were  free  from  the  imputation  of  an  un 
handsome  appropriation  of  labors  performed  by  others. 
The  Lexicon  of  Dr.  Dunbar,  Professor  of  Greek  in  the 
University  of  Edinburgh,  published  in  1840,  contains 
whole  pages  taken  bodily  —  "  convey,  the  wise  it  call " 
—  from  that  of  Mr.  Pickering,  while  the  Preface  is  con 
tent  with. an  acknowledgment,  in  very  general  terms,  of 
obligation  to  the  work  which  is  copied.  This  is  bad 
enough.  But  the  second  edition,  published  in  1844, 
omits  acknowledgment  altogether;  and  the  Lexicon  is 
welcomed  by  an  elaborate  article  in  the  Quarterly  Re 
view,  2  as  the  triumphant  labor  of  Dr.  Dunbar,  "  well 
known  among  our  Northern  classics  as  a  clever  man  and 
an  acute  scholar.  In  almost  every  page"  continues  the 
reviewer,  "  we  MMf  with  something  which  bespeaks  the  pen 
of  a  scholar  ;  and  we  every  now  and  then  stumble  on  ex 
planations  of  words  and  passages,  occasionally  fanciful, 

1  Preface  to  Pickering's  Lexicon.  *  Vol.  LXXV.  p.  2W. 


THE  LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  225 

but  always  sensible,  and  sometimes  ingenious,  which 
amply  repay  us  for  the  search They  prove,  more 
over,  that  the  Professor  is  possessed  of  one  quality  which  we 
could  wish  to  see  more  general :  he  does  not  see  with  the 
eyes  of  otJiers  ;  he  thinks  for  himself,  and  he  seems  well 
qualified  to  do  so."  Did  he  not  see  with  the  eyes  of 
others  ?  The  reviewer  hardly  supposed  that  his  com 
mendation  would  reach  the  production  of  an  American 
lexicographer. 

In  the  general  department  of  Languages  and  Philology 
his  labors  were  various.  Some  of  the  publications  already 
mentioned  might  be  ranged  under  this  head.  There  are 
others  which  remain  to  be  noticed.  The  earliest  is  the 
work  generally  called  Tlie  Vocabulary  of  Americanisms, 
being  a  collection  of  words  and  phrases  supposed  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  United  States,  with  an  Essay  on  the 
State  of  the  English  Language  in  this  countiy.  This 
originally  appeared  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  American 
Academy,  in  1815,  and  republished  in  a  separate  vol 
ume,  with  corrections  and  additions,  in  1816.  It  was 
the  author's  intention,  had  his  life  been  spared,  to  print 
another  edition,  with  the  important  gleanings  of  sub 
sequent  observation  and  study.  Undoubtedly  this  work 
has  exerted  a  beneficial  influence  upon  the  purity  of  our 
language.  It  has  promoted  careful  habits  of  composition, 
and,  in  a  certain  degree,  helped  to  guard  the  "  well  of 
English  undefiled."  Some  of  the  words  found  in  this 
Vocabulary  may  be  traced  to  ancient  sources  of  authori 
ty  ;  but  there  are  many  which  are  beyond  question  pro 
vincial  and  barbarous,  although  much  used  in  our  com 
mon  speech, — "fax  quoque  quotidiani  sermonis,  fceda  ac 
pudenda  vitia."  1 

1  De  Oratoribus  Dialogus,  c.  32,  —  sometimes  attributed  to  Tacitus. 
10*  O 


226  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 

In  the  Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy  for  1818 
appeared  his  Essay  on  a  Uniform  Orthography  for  the 
Indian  Languages  of  North  America.  The  uncertainty 
of  their  orthography  arose  from  the  circumstance  that 
the  words  were  collected  and  reduced  to  writing  by 
scholars  of  different  nations,  who  often  attached  differ 
ent  values  to  the  same  letter,  and  represented  the  same 
sound  by  different  letters ;  so  that  it  was  impossible  to 
determine  the  sound  of  a  written  word,  without  first 
knowing  through  what  alembic  of  speech  it  had  passed. 
Thus  the  words  of  the  same  language  or  dialect,  written 
by  a  German,  a  Frenchman,  or  an  Englishman,  would 
seem  to  belong  to  languages  as  widely  different  as  those 
of  these  different  people.  With  the  hope  of  removing 
from  the  path  of  others  the  perplexities  that  had  beset 
his  own,  Mr.  Pickering  recommended  the  adoption  of  a 
common  orthography,  which  would  enable  foreigners  to 
use  our  books  without  difficulty,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
make  theirs  easy  for  us.  To  this  end,  he  devised  an 
alphabet  for  the  Indian  languages,  which  contained  the 
common  letters  of  our  alphabet,  so  far  as  practicable,  a 
class  of  nasals,  also  of  diphthongs,  and,  lastly,  a  number 
of  compound  characters,  which  it  was  supposed  would 
be  of  more  or  less  frequent  use  in  different  dialects. 
With  regard  to  this  Essay,  Mr.  Du  Ponceau  said,  at  an 
early  day,  "  If,  as  there  is  great  reason  to  expect,  Mr. 
Pickering's  orthography  gets  into  general  use  among  us, 
America  will  have  had  the  honor  of  taking  the  lead  in 
procuring  an  important  auxiliary  to  philological  science." l 

1  Notes  on  Eliot's  Indian  Grammar.  Mass.  Hist  Coll.,  Second  Series,  Vol. 
IX.  p.  xi  I  cannot  forbear  adding,  that  in  the  correspondence  of  Leib 
nitz  there  is  a  proposition  for  a  new  alphabet  of  the  Arabic,  ^Ethiopic, 
Syrinc,  mid  similar  language*,  which  mny  remind  the  reader  of  that  of  Mr. 
Pickering.  Leibnitz,  Opera  (ed.  I)uten»),  Vol.  VI.  p.  88. 


THE   LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  227 

Perhaps  no  single  paper  on  language,  since  the  legendary 
labors  of  Cadmus,  has  exercised  a  more  important  in 
fluence  than  this  communication.  Though  originally  com 
posed  with  a  view  to  the  Indian  languages  of  North 
America,  it  has  been  successfully  followed  by  the  mis 
sionaries  in  the  Polynesian  Islands.  In  harmony  with 
the  principles  of  this  Essay,  the  unwritten  dialect  of 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  possessing,  it  is  said,  a  more  than 
Italian  softness,  was  reduced  to  writing  according  to  a 
systematic  orthography  prepared  by  Mr.  Pickering,  and 
is  now  employed  in  two  newspapers  published  by  na 
tives.  Thus  he  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  contribu 
tors  to  that  civilization,  under  whose  gentle  influence 
those  islands,  set  like  richest  gems  in  the  bosom  of  the 
sea,  will  yet  glow  with  the  effulgence  of  Christian  truth. 

His  early  studies  in  this  branch  are  attested  by  an  ar 
ticle  in  the  North  American  Eeview  for  June,  1819,  on 
Du  Ponceau's  Eeport  on  the  Languages  of  the  American 
Indians,  and  another  article  in  the  same  Eeview,  for  July, 
1820,  on  Dr.  Jarvis's  Discourse  on  the  Eeligion  of  the 
Indian  Tribes  of  North  America.  The  latter  attracted 
the  particular  attention  of  William  von  Humboldt. 

The  Collections  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  So 
ciety  contain  several  important  communications  from 
him  on  the  Indian  languages :  in  1822  (Vol.  IX.  Second 
Series)  an  edition  of  the  Indian  Grammar  of  Eliot,  the 
St.  Augustin  of  New  England,  with  Introductory  Obser 
vations  on  the  Massachusetts  Language  by  the  editor, 
and  Notes  by  Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  inscribed  to  his  "  learned 
friend,  Mr.  Pickering,  as  a  just  tribute  of  friendship  and 
respect";  —  in  1823  (Vol.  X.  Second  Series)  an  edition 
of  Jonathan  Edwards's  Observations  on  the  Mohegan 
Language,  with  an  Advertisement  and  Copious  Notes 


228  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

on  the  Indian  Languages  by  the  editor,  and  a  Compara 
tive  Vocabulary  of  Various  Dialects  of  the  Lenape  or 
Delaware  Stock  of  North  American  Languages,  together 
with  a  Specimen  of  the  Winnebago  Language ;  —  in  1830 
(Vol.  II.  Third  Series)  an  edition  of  Cotton's  Vocabu 
lary  of  the  Massachusetts  Language.  He  also  prepared 
Roger  Williams's  Vocabulary  of  the  Narragansett  In 
dians  for  the  Rhode  Island  Historical  Society.  These 
labors  were  calculated,  in  no  ordinary  degree,  to  pro 
mote  a  knowledge  of  our  aboriginal  idioms,  and  to  shed 
light  on  that  important  and  newly  attempted  branch  of 
knowledge,  the  science  of  Comparative  Language. 

Among  the  Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy,  pub 
lished  in  1833,  (VoL  I.  New  Series)  is  the  Dictionary  of 
the  Abnaki  Language,  in  North  America,  by  Father  Se 
bastian  Rasles,  with  an  Introductory  Memoir  and  Notes 
by  Mr.  Pickering.  The  original  manuscript  of  this  copi 
ous  Dictionary,  commenced  by  the  good  and  indefatiga 
ble  Jesuit  in  1691,  during  his  solitary  residence  with  the 
Indians,  was  found  among  his  papers  after  the  massacre 
at  Norridgewock,  in  which  he  was  killed,  and,  passing 
through  several  hands,  at  last  came  into  the  possession 
of  Harvard  University.  It  is  considered  one  of  the 
most  interesting  and  authentic  documents  in  the  histo 
ry  of  the  North  American  languages.  In  the  Memoir 
accompanying  the  Dictionary,  Mr.  Pickering,  with  the 
modesty  which  marked  all  his  labors,  says  that  he  made 
inquiries  for  memorials  of  these  languages,  "  hoping  that 
he  might  render  some  small  service  by  collecting  and 
preserving  these  valuable  materials  for  the  use  of  those 
persons  whose  leisure  and  ability  would  enable  them  to 
employ  them  more  advantageously  than  it  was  in  his 
power  to  do,  for  the  benefit  of  philological  science." 


THE  LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  229 

The  elaborate  article  on  the  Indian  Languages  of 
America  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Americana  is  from  his 
pen.  The  subject  was  considered  so  interesting,  in  re 
gard  to  general  and  comparative  philology,  while  so 
little  was  known  respecting  it,  that  a  space  was  allowed 
to  this  article  beyond  that  of  other  philological  articles 
in  the  Encyclopaedia.  The  forthcoming  volume  of  Me 
moirs  of  the  American  Academy  contains  an  interest 
ing  paper  of  a  kindred  character,  one  of  his  latest  pro 
ductions,  on  the  Language  and  Inhabitants  of  Lord 
North's  Island,  in  the  Indian  Archipelago,  with  a  Vo 
cabulary. 

The  Address  before  the  American  Oriental  Society, 
delivered  and  published  in  1843,  as  the  first  number  of 
the  Journal  of  that  body,  is  an  admirable  contribution 
to  the  history  of  languages,  presenting  a  survey  ~of  the 
peculiar  field  of  labor  to  which  the  Society  is  devoted, 
in  a  style  which  attracts  alike  the  scholar  and  the  less 
critical  reader. 

Among  his  other  productions  in  philology  may  be 
mentioned  an  interesting  article  on  the  Chinese  Lan 
guage,  which  first  appeared  in  the  North  American  Re 
view  for  January,  1839,  and  was  afterwards  dishonestly 
reprinted,  as  an  original  article,  in  the  London  Monthly 
Review  for  December,  1840  ;  also  an  article  on  the  Co 
chin-Chinese  Language,  published  in  the  North  American 
Review  for  April,  1841 ;  another  on  Adelung's  "  Survey 
of  Languages,"  in  the  same  journal,  in  1822 ;  a  review 
of  Johnson's  Dictionary,  in  the  American  Quarterly  Re 
view  for  September,  1828 ;  and  two  articles  in  the  New 
York  Review  for  1826,  being  a  caustic  examination  of 
General  Cass's  article  in  the  North  American  Review 
respecting  the  Indians  of  North  America.  These  two  pa- 


230  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

pers  were  not  acknowledged  by  their  author  at  the  time 
they  were  written.  They  purport  to  be  by  KASS-ti-ga- 
tor-skec,  or  The  Featured  Arrcnv,  a  fictitious  name  from 
the  Latin  C\s-tigator  and  an  Indian  termination  skee 
or  ski. 

Even  this  enumeration  does  not  close  the  catalogue 
of  Mr.  Pickering's  productions.  There  are  others  —  to 
which,  however,  we  refer  by  their  titles  only  —  that 
may  be  classed  with  contributions  to  general  literature. 
Among  these  is  an  Oration  delivered  at  Salem  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  1804 ;  an  article  in  the  Encyclopaedia 
Americana,  in  1829,  on  the  Agrarian  Laws  of  Rome ;  an 
article  in  the  North  American  Review  for  April,  1829, 
on  Elementary  Instruction;  an  Introductory  Essay  to 
Newhall's  Letters  on  Junius,  in  1831 ;  a  Lecture  on 
Telegraphic  Language,  before  the  Boston  Marine  Soci 
ety,  in  1833  pan  article  on  Peirce's  History  of  Harvard 
University,  in  the  North  American  Review  for  April, 
1834;  an  article  on  the  South  Sea  Islands,  in  the 
American  Quarterly  Review  for  September,  1836 ;  an 
article  on  Prescott's  History  of  the  Reign  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella,  in  the  New  York  Review  for  April,  1838  ; 
the  noble  Eulogy  on  Dr.  Bowditch,  delivered  before  the 
American  Academy,  May  29, 1838 ;  and  Obituary  Notices 
of  Mr.  Peirce,  the  Librarian  of  Harvard  College,  of  Dr. 
Spurzheim,  of  Dr.  Bowditch,  and  of  his  valued  friend 
and  correspondent,  the  partner  of  his  philological  labors, 
Mr.  Du  Ponceau ;  also  an  interesting  Lecture,  still  un 
published,  on  the  Origin  of  the  Population  of  America, 
and  two  others  on  Languages. 

The  reader  will  be  astonished  at  these  various  contri 
butions  to  learning  and  literature,  thus  hastily  reviewed, 


THE   LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  231 

particularly  when  he  regards  them  as  the  diversions  of  a 
life  filled  in  amplest  measure  by  other  pursuits.  Charles 
Lamb  said  that  his  real  works  were  not  his  published 
writings,  but  the  ponderous  folios  copied  by  his  hand 
in  the  India  House.  In  the  same  spirit,  Mr.  Pickering 
might  point  to  the  multitudinous  transactions  of  his  long 
professional  life,  cases  argued  in  court,  conferences  with 
clients,  and  deeds,  contracts,  and  other  papers,  in  that 
clear,  legible  autograph  which  is  a  fit  emblem  of  his 
transparent  character. 

His  professional  life  first  invites  attention.  Here  it 
should  be  observed  that  he  was  a  thorough,  hard-work 
ing  lawyer,  for  the  greater  part  of  his  days  in  full  prac 
tice,  constant  at  his  office,  attentive  to  all  the  concerns 
of  business,  and  to  what  may  be  called  the  humilities 
of  the  profession.  He  was  faithful,  conscientious,  and 
careful ;  nor  did  his  zeal  for  the  interests  committed  to 
his  care  ever  betray  him  beyond  the  golden  mean  of  duty. 
The  law,  in  his  hands,  was  a  shield  for  defence,  and 
never  a  sword  to  thrust  at  his  adversary.  His  prepara 
tions  for  arguments  in  court  were  marked  by  peculiar 
care ;  his  brief  was  elaborate.  On  questions  of  law  he 
was  learned  and  profound ;  but  his  manner  in  court  was 
excelled  by  his  matter.  The  experience  of  a  long  life 
never  enabled  him  to  overcome  the  native  childlike  dif 
fidence  which  made  him  shrink  from  public  display. 
He  developed  his  views  with  clearness  and  an  invari 
able  regard  to  their  logical  sequence,  —  but  he  did  not 
press  them  home  by  energy  of  manner,  or  any  of  the 
arts  of  eloquence. 

His  mind  was  rather  judicial  than  forensic  in  cast. 
He  was  better  able  to  discern  the  right  than  to  make 
the  wrong  appear  the  better  reason.  He  was  not  a  legal 


232  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 

athlete,  snuffing  new  vigor  in  the  atmosphere  of  the 
bar,  and  regarding  success  alone,  —  but  a  faithful  coun 
sellor,  solicitous  for  his  client,  and  for  justice  too. 

It  was  this  character  that  led  him  to  contemplate  the 
law  as  a  science,  and  to  study  its  improvement  and  ele 
vation.  He  could  not  look  upon  it  merely  as  the  means 
of  earning  money.  He  gave  much  of  his  time  to  its 
generous  culture.  From  the  walks  of  practice  he  as 
cended  to  the  heights  of  jurisprudence,  embracing  with 
in  his  observation  the  systems  of  other  countries.  His 
contributions  to  this  department  illustrate  the  turn  and 
extent  of  his  inquiries.  It  was  his  hope  to  accomplish 
some  careful  work  on  the  law,  more  elaborate  than  the 
memorials  he  has  left.  The  subject  of  the  Practice  and 
Procedure  of  Courts,  or  what  is  called  by  the  civilians 
Stylus  Curia,  occupied  his  mind,  and  he  intended  to 
treat  it  in  the  light  of  foreign  authorities,  particularly 
German  and  French,  with  the  view  of  determining  the 
general  principles,  or  natural  law,  common  to  all  sys 
tems,  by  which  it  is  governed.  Such  a  work,  executed 
with  the  fine  juridical  spirit  in  which  it  was  conceived, 
would  have  been  welcomed  wherever  the  law  is  studied 
as  a  science. 

It  is,  then,  not  only  as  lawyer,  practising  in  courts, 
but  as  jurist,  to  whom  the  light  of  jurisprudence  shone 
gladsome,  that  we  are  to  esteem  our  departed  friend. 
As  such,  his  example  will  command  attention  and  exert 
an  influence  long  after  the  paper  dockets  in  blue  covers, 
chronicling  the  stages  of  litigation  in  his  cashes,  are  con 
signed  to  the  oblivion  of  dark  closets  and  cobwebbed 
pigeon-holes. 

But  he  has  left  a  place  vacant,  not  only  in  the  halls 
of  jurisprudence,  but  also  in  the  circle  of  scholars 


THE   LATE  JOHN  PICKERING.  233 

throughout  the  world,  and,  it  may  be  said,  in  the  Pan 
theon  of  universal  learning.  Contemplating  the  variety, 
the  universality  of  his  attainments,  the  mind,  borrowing 
an  epithet  once  applied  to  another,  involuntarily  ex 
claims,  "  The  admirable  Pickering  ! "  He  seems,  indeed, 
to  have  run  the  whole  round  of  knowledge.  His  studies 
in  ancient  learning  had  been  profound ;  nor  can  we 
sufficiently  admire  the  facility  with  which,«amidst  other 
cares,  he  assumed  the  task  of  lexicographer.  Unless 
some  memorandum  should  be  found  among  his  papers, 
as  was  the  case  with  Sir  William  Jones,1  specifying  the 
languages  to  which  he  had  been  devoted,  it  might  be 
difficult  to  frame  a  list  with  entire  accuracy.  It  is  cer 
tain  that  he  was  familiar  with  at  least  nine,  —  English, 
French,  Portuguese,  Italian,  Spanish,  German,  Romaic, 
Greek,  and  Latin,  of  which  he  spoke  the  first  five.  He 
was  less  familiar,  though  well  acquainted,  with  Dutch, 
Swedish,  Danish,  and  Hebrew, — and  had  explored,  with 
various  degrees  of  care,  the  Arabic,  Turkish,  Syriac,  Per 
sian,  Coptic,  Sanscrit,  Chinese,  Cochin-Chinese,  Russian, 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  the  Malay  in  several  dialects, 
and  particularly  the  Indian  languages  of  America  and 
the  Polynesian  Islands. 

The  sarcasm  of  Hudibras  on  the  "  barren  ground " 
supposed  congenial  to  "  Hebrew  roots "  is  refuted  by 
the  richness  of  his  accomplishments.  His  style  is  that 
of  a  scholar  and  man  of  taste.  It  is  simple,  unpretend- 

1  Sir  William  Jones  had  studied  eight  languages  critically. —  English, 
Latin,  French,  Italian,  Greek,  Arabic,  Persian,  Sanscrit;  eight  less  perfectly, 
but  all  intelligible  with  a  dictionary,  —  Spanish,  Portuguese,  German,  Ru 
nic,  Hebrew,  Bengali,  Hindi,  Turkish:  twelve  least  perfectly,  but  all  attain 
able,  —  Tibetian,  Pali,  Phalavi,  Deri,  Russian,  Syriac,  vEthiopic,  Coptic. 
Welsh,  Swedish,  Dutch,  Chinese:  in  all  twenty-eight  languages.  —  TEION- 
MOUTH,  Life  ofjonet,  p.  376,  note. 


234  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

ing  like  its  author,  clear,  accurate,  and  flows  in  an  even 
tenor  of  elegance,  which  rises  at  times  to  a  suavity  al 
most  Xenophontian.  Though  little  adorned  by  flowers 
of  rhetoric,  it  shows  the  sensibility  and  refinement  of  an 
ear  attuned  to  the  harmonies  of  language.  He  had  cul 
tivated  music  as  a  science,  and  in  his  younger  days  per 
formed  on  the  flute  with  Grecian  fondness.  Some  of  the 
airs  he  had  learned  in  Portugal  were  sung  to  him  by  his 
daughter  shortly  before  his  death,  bringing  with  them, 
doubtless,  the  pleasant  memories  of  early  travel  and  the 
"  incense-breathing  mom  "  of  life.  A  lover  of  music,  he 
was  naturally  inclined  to  the  other  fine  arts,  but  always 
had  particular  pleasure  in  works  of  sculpture. 

Nor  were  those  other  studies  which  are  sometimes  re 
garded  as  of  a  more  practical  character  foreign  to  his  mind. 
In  college  days  he  was  noticed  for  his  attainments  in 
mathematics  ;  and  later  in  life  he  perused  with  intelligent 
care  the  great  work  of  his  friend,  Dr.  Bowditch,  the  trans 
lation  of  the  Mtcanique  Celeste.  He  was  chairman  of 
the  committee  which  recommended  the  purchase  of  a 
first-class  telescope  for  the  neighborhood  of  Boston,  and 
was  the  author  of  their  interesting  report  on  the  use 
and  importance  of  such  an  instrument.  He  was  partial 
to  natural  history,  particularly  botany,  which  he  taught 
to  some  of  his  family.  In  addition  to  all  this,  he  pos 
sessed  a  natural  aptitude  for  the  mechanic  arts,  which 
was  improved  by  observation  and  care.  Early  in  life  he 
learned  to  use  the  turning-lathe,  and,  as  he  declared  in 
an  unpublished  lecture  before  the  Mechanics'  Institute 
of  Boston,  made  toys  which  he  bartered  among  his  school 
mates. 

This  last  circumstance  gives  singular  point  to  the 
parallel,  already  striking  in  other  respects,  between  him 


THE  LATE  JOHN   PICKERING.  235 

and  the  Greek  orator,  the  boast  of  whose  various  knowl 
edge  is  preserved  by  Cicero :  "  Nihil  esse  ulla  in  arte 
rerum  omnium,  quod  ipse  nesciret :  nee  solum  has  artes, 
quibus  liberales  doctrinse  atque  ingenuse  continerentur, 
geometriam,  musicam,  literarum  cognitionem  etpoetarum, 
atque  ilia,  quse  de  naturis  rerum,  quae  de  hominum  mori- 
bus,  quae  de  rebuspublicis  dicerentur ;  sed  annulum,  quern 
habcret,  se  sua  manu  confecisse."1  The  Greek,  besides 
knowing  everything,  made  the  ring  which  he  wore,  as 
our  friend  made  toys. 

As  the  champion  of  classical  studies,  and  a  student  of 
language,  or  philologist,  he  is  entitled  to  be  specially  re 
membered.  It  is  impossible  to  measure  the  influence  he 
has  exerted  upon  the  scholarship  of  the  country.  His 
writings  and  his  example,  from  early  youth,  pleaded  its 
cause,  and  will  plead  it  ever,  although  his  living  voice  is 
hushed  in  the  grave.  His  genius  for  languages  was  pro 
found.  He  saw,  with  intuitive  perception,  their  structure 
and  affinities,  and  delighted  in  the  detection  of  their  hid 
den  resemblances  and  relations.  To  their  history  and 
character  he  devoted  his  attention,  more  than  to  their 
literature.  It  is  not  possible  for  this  humble  pen  to  de 
termine  the  place  which  will  be  allotted  to  him  in  the 
science  of  philology ;  but  the  writer  cannot  forbear  re 
cording  the  authoritative  testimony  to  the  rare  merits  of 
Mr.  Pickering  in  this  department,  which  it  was  his  for 
tune  to  hear  from  the  lips  of  Alexander  von  Humboldt. 
With  the  brother,  William  von  Humboldt,  that  great 
light  of  modern  philology,  he  maintained  a  long  corre 
spondence,  particularly  on  the  Indian  languages  ;  and  his 
letters  will  be  found  preserved  in  the  Royal  Library  at 
Berlin.  Without  rashly  undertaking  to  indicate  any 

iDe  Oratore,  Lib  TTT.  cap.  82. 


236  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH   OF 

scale  of  pre-eminence  or  precedence  among  the  cultiva 
tors  of  this  department,  at  home  or  abroad,  it  may  not 
be  improper  to  refer  to  his  labors  in  those  words  of  Dr. 
Johnson  with  regard  to  his  own,  as  evidence  "  that  we 
may  no  longer  yield  the  palm  of  philology,  without  a 
contest,  to  the  nations  of  the  Continent."1 

If  it  should  be  asked  by  what  magic  Mr.  Pickering 
was  able  to  accomplish  these  remarkable  results,  it  innst 
be  answered,  By  the  careful  husbandry  of  time.  His 
talisman  was  industry.  He  delighted  in  referring  to 
those  rude  inhabitants  of  Tartary  who  placed  idleness 
among  the  torments  of  the  world  to  come,  and  often  re 
membered  the  beautiful  proverb  in  his  Oriental  studies, 
that  by  labor  the  leaf  of  the  mulberry  is  turned  into  silk. 
His  life  is  a  perpetual  commentary  on  those  words  of 
untranslatable  beauty  in  the  great  Italian  poet :  — 

"  Seggendo  in  piuma, 

In  fama  non  si  vien,  ne  sotto  coltre  : 
Sanza  la  qua],  chi  sua  vita  consutna, 

Cotal  vestigio  in  terra  di  se  lascia, 
Qual  fumo  in  acre  od  in  acqua  la  schiuma."  2 

With  a  mind  thus  deeply  imbued  with  learning,  it 
will  be  felt  that  lie  was  formed  less  for  the  contentions 
of  the  forum  than  for  the  exercises  of  the  academy.  And 
yet  it  is  understood  that  he  declined  several  opportu 
nities  of  entering  its  learned  retreats.  In  1806  he  was 
elected  Hancock  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  other  Oriental 
Languages  in  Harvard  University ;  and  at  a  later  day  he 
was  invited  to  the  chair  of  Greek  Literature  in  the  same 
institution.  On  the  death  of  Professor  Aslimun,  many 
eyes  were  turned  towards  him,  as  fitted  to  occupy  the 
professorship  of  law  in  Cambridge,  since  so  ably  filled 

1  Preface  to  Dictionary. 

*  Divina  Commedia,  fnfcnto,  Canto  XXIV.  w.  47  -61. 


THE  LATE   JOHN   PICKEEING.  237 

by  Mr.  Greenleaf ;  and  on  two  different  occasions  his 
name  was  echoed  by  the  public  prints  as  about  to  re 
ceive  the  dignity  of  President  of  the  University.  But 
he  continued  in  the  practice  of  the  law  to  the  last. 

He  should  be  claimed  by  the  bar  with  peculiar  pride. 
If  it  be  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  Serjeant  Talfourd 
has  reflected  more  honor  upon  his  profession  by  the 
successful  cultivation  of  letters  than  any  of  his  contem 
poraries  by  their  forensic  triumphs,  then  should  the 
American  bar  acknowledge  their  obligations  to  the  fame 
of  Mr.  Pickering.  He  was  one  of  us.  He  was  a  regu 
lar  in  our  ranks ;  in  other  service,  only  a  volunteer. 

The  mind  is  led  instinctively  to  a  parallel  between 
him  and  that  illustrious  scholar  and  jurist,  ornament  of 
the  English  law,  and  pioneer  of  Oriental  studies  in 
England,  Sir  William  Jones,  to  whom  I  have  already 
referred.  Both  confessed,  in  early  life,  the  attractions 
of  classical  studies  ;  both  were  trained  in  the  discipline 
of  the  law ;  both,  though  engaged  in  its  practice,  always 
delighted  to  contemplate  it  as  a  science ;  both  surren 
dered  themselves  with  irrepressible  ardor  to  the  study 
of  languages,  while  the  one  broke  into  the  unexplored 
fields  of  Eastern  philology,  and  the  other  devoted  him 
self  more  especially  to  the  native  tongues  of  his  own 
Western  continent.  Their  names  are,  perhaps,  equally 
conspicuous  for  the  number  of  languages  which  occu 
pied  their  attention.  As  we  approach  them  in  private 
life,  the  parallel  still  continues.  In  both  there  were  the 
same  truth,  generosity,  and  gentleness,  a  cluster  of  noble 
virtues,  —  while  the  intenser  earnestness  of  the  one  is 
compensated  by  the  greater  modesty  of  the  other.  To 
our  American  jurist-scholar,  also,  may  be  applied  those 
words  of  the  Greek  couplet,  borrowed  from  Aris- 


238  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF 

tophanes,  and  first  appropriated  to  his  English  proto 
type  :  "  The  Graces,  seeking  a  shrine  that  would  not 
decay,  found  the  soul  of.  Jones." 

While  dwelling  with  admiration  upon  his  triumphs 
of  intellect  and  the  fame  he  has  won,  we  must  not  for 
get  the  virtues,  higher  than  intellect  or  fame,  by  which 
his  life  was  adorned.  In  the  jurist  and  the  scholar 
we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  man.  So  far  as  is  allot 
ted  to  a  mortal,  he  was  a  spotless  character.  The  murky 
tides  of  this  world  seemed  to  flow  by  without  soiling 
his  garments.  He  was  pure  in  thought,  word,  and  deed ; 
a  lover  of  truth,  goodness,  and  humanity ;  the  friend 
of  the  young,  encouraging  them  in  their  studies,  and 
aiding  them  by  wise  counsels ;  ever  kind,  considerate, 
and  gentle  to  all;  towards  children,  and  the  unfortu 
nate,  full  of  tenderness.  He  was  of  charming  modesty. 
With  learning  to  which  all  bowed  with  reverence,  he 
walked  humbly  before  God  and  man.  His  pleasures 
were  simple.  In  the  retirement  of  his  study,  and  the 
blandishments  of  his  music-loving  family,  he  found  rest 
from  the  fatigues  of  the  bar.  He  never  spoke  in  anger, 
nor  did  any  hate  find  a  seat  in  his  bosom.  His  placid 
life  was,  like  law  in  the  definition  of  Aristotle,  "  mind 
without  passion." 

Through  his  long  and  industrious  career  he  was  bless 
ed  with  unbroken  health.  He  walked  on  earth  with  an 
unailing  body  and  a  serene  mind ;  and  at  last,  in  the 
fulness  of  time,  when  the  garner  was  overflowing  with 
the  harvests  of  a  well-spent  life,  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  the  silver  cord  was  gently  loosed.  He  died  at 
Boston,  May  5, 1846,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age, 
—  only  a  few  days  after  he  had  prepared  for  the  press 
the  last  sheets  of  a  new  and  enlarged  edition  of  his 


THE  LATE  JOHN  PICKERING.  239 

Greek  Lexicon.  His  wife,  to  whom  he  was  married  in 
1805,  and  three  children,  survive  to  mourn  their  irrepa 
rable  loss. 

The  number  of  societies,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
of  which  he  was  an  honored  member,  attests  the  wide 
spread  recognition  of  his  merits.  He  was  President  of 
the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences  ;  President 
of  the  American  Oriental  Society;  Foreign  Secretary 
of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society ;  Fellow  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  the  American  Eth 
nological  Society,  the  American  Philosophical  Society ; 
Honorary  Member  of  the  Historical  Societies  of  New 
Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Michigan,  Maryland,  and  Georgia;  Honorary  Member 
of  the  National  Institution  for  the  Promotion  of  Sci 
ence,  the  American  Statistical  Association,  the  Northern 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  Hanover,  N.  H.,  and  the 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Legal  Knowledge,  Phila 
delphia  ;  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences  at  Berlin,  the  Oriental  Society  of  Paris,  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  and  Letters  at  Palermo,  the  An 
tiquarian  Society  at  Athens,  and  the  Royal  Northern 
Antiquarian  Society  at  Copenhagen  ;  and  Titular  Mem 
ber  of  the  French  Society  of  Universal  Statistics. 

For  many  years  he  maintained  a  copious  correspond 
ence,  on  matters  of  jurisprudence,  science,  and  learning, 
with  distinguished  names  at  home  and  abroad:  espe 
cially  with  Mr.  Du  Ponceau,  at  Philadelphia,  —  with ' 
William  von  Humboldt,  at  Berlin,  —  with  Mittermaier, 
the  jurist,  at  Heidelberg,  —  with  Dr.  Prichard,  author  of 
the  Physical  History  of  Mankind,  at  Bristol,  —  and  with 
Lepsius,  the  hierologist,  who  wrote  to  him  from  the  foot 
of  the  Pyramids,  in  Egypt. 


240  THE  LATE  JOHN  PICKERING. 

The  death  of  one  thus  variously  connected  is  no  com 
mon  sorrow.  Beyond  the  immediate  circle  of  family 
and  friends,  he  will  be  mourned  by  the  bar,  among 
whom  his  daily  life  was  passed,  —  by  the  municipality 
of  Boston,  whose  legal  adviser  he  was,  —  by  clients, 
who  depended  upon  his  counsels,  —  by  good  citizens, 
who  were  charmed  by  the  abounding  virtues  of  his 
private  life,  —  by  his  country,  who  will  cherish  his  name 
more  than  gold  or  silver,  —  by  the  distant  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  who  will  bless  his  labors  in  the  words  they  read, 
—  finally,  by  the  company  of  jurists  and  scholars 
throughout  the  world.  His  fame  and  his  works  will 
be  fitly  commemorated,  on  formal  occasions,  hereafter. 
Meanwhile,  one  who  knew  him  at  the  bar  and  in  pri 
vate  life,  and  who  loves  his  memory,  lays  this  early 
tribute  upon  his  grave. 


THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST,  THE  ARTIST, 
THE  PHILANTHROPIST. 


AN  ORATION  BEFORE  THE  PHI  BETA  KAPPA  SOCIETY  OF 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY,  AT  THEIR  ANNIVERSARY, 

AUGUST  27,  1846. 


Then  I  would  say  to  the  young  disciple  of  Truth  and  Beauty,  who 
would  know  how  to  satisfy  the  noble  impulse  of  his  heart,  through  every 
opposition  of  the  century,  —  I  would  say,  Give  the  world  beneath  your 
influence  a  direction  towards  the  good,  and  the  tranquil  rhythm  of  time 
will  bring  its  development.  —  SCHILLER. 


VOL.    I.  11 


IN  this  Oration,  as  in  that  of  the  4th  of  July,  Mr.  Stunner  took  advan 
tage  of  the  occasion  to  express  himself  freely,  especially  on  the  two  great 
questions  of  Slavery  and  War.  In  the  sensitive  condition  of  public  senti 
ment  at  that  time,  such  an  effort  would  have  found  small  indulgence,  if  he 
had  not  placed  himself  behind  four  such  names.  While  commemorating 
the  dead,  he  was  able  to  uphold  living  truth. 

The  acceptance  of  this  Oration  at  the  time  is  attested  by  the  toast  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  at  the  dinner  of  the  Society  :  — 

"  The  memory  of  the  Scholar,  the  Jurist,  the  Artist,  the  Philanthropist ; 
and  not  the  memory,  but  the  long  life  of  the  kindred  spirit  who  has  this 
day  embalmed  them  all." 

This  was  followed  by  a  letter  from  Mr.  Adams  to  Mr.  Sumner,  dated  at 
Quincy,  August  29,  1846,  containing  the  following  passage  :  — 

"  It  is  a  gratification  to  me  to  have  the  opportunity  to  repeat  the  thanks 
which  I  so  cordially  gave  you  at  the  close  of  your  oration  of  last  Thursday, 
and  of  which  the  sentiment  offered  by  me  at  the  dinner-table  was  but  an 
additional  pulsation  from  the  same  heart.  I  trust  I  may  now  congratulate 
you  on  the  felicity,  first  of  your  selection  of  your  subject,  and  secondly  of 

its  consummation  in  the  delivery The  pleasure  with  which  I  listened 

to  your  discourse  was  inspired  far  less  by  the  success  and  aU  but  universal 
acceptance  and  applause  of  the  present  moment  than  by  the  vista  of  the 
future  which  is  opened  to  my  view.  Casting  my  eyes  backward  no  farther 
than  the  4th  of  July  of  last  year,  when  you  set  all  the  vipers  of  Alecto 
a-hissing  by  proclaiming  the  Christian  law  of  universal  peace  and  love, 
and  then  casting  them  forward,  perhaps  not  much  farther,  but  beyond  my 
own  allotted  time,  I  see  you  have  a  mission  to  perform.  I  look  from  Pisgah 

to  the  Promised  Land ;  you  must  enter  upon  it To  the  motto  on  my  seal 

[AUeri  sceculo]  add  Delenda  est  servitiu." 

Similar  testimony  was  offered  by  Edward  Everett  in  a  letter  dated  at 
Cambridge,  September  5,  1846,  where  he  thanks  Mr.  Sumner  for  his  "  most 
magnificent  address,  —  an  effort  certainly  of  unsurpassed  felicity  and 
power," — then  in  another  letter  dated  at  Cambridge,  September  26th,  where 
he  writes:  "I  read  it  last  evening  with  a  renewal  of  the  delight  with 
which  I  heard  it.  Should  you  never  do  anything  else,  you  have  done 
enough  for  fame ;  but  you  are,  as  far  as  these  public  efforts  are  concerned, 
at  the  commencement  of  a  career,  destined,  I  trust,  to  last  for  long  years, 
of  ever-increasing  usefulness  and  honor." 

Mr.  Prescott,  under  date  of  October  2d,  writes :  — 

"  The  most  happy  conception  has  been  carried  out  admirably,  as  if  it 


244 

were  the  moat  natural  order  of  things,  without  the  least  constraint  or  vio 
lence.  I  don't  know  which  of  your  sketches  I  like  the  best  I  um  inclined 
to  think  the  Judge;  for  there  you  are  on  your  own  heather,  and  it  is  the 
tribute  of  a  favorite  pupil  to  his  well-loved  master,  gushing  worm  from  the 
heart.  Yet  they  are  all  managed  well;  and  the  vivid  touches  of  character 
and  the  richness  of  the  illustration  will  repay  the  study,  I  should  imagine, 
of  any  one  familiar  with  the  particular  science  you  discuss." 

Chancellor  Kent,  of  New  York,  under  date  of  October  6th,  expresses  him 
self  as  follows:  — 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Address,  and  I  think 
it  to  be  one  of  the  most  splendid  productions  in  point  of  diction  and  elo 
quence  that  I  have  ever  read.  You  brought  a  most  fervent  mind  to  the 
task,  glowing  with  images  of  transcendent  worth,  and  embellished  with 
classical  and  literary  allusions  drawn  from  your  memory  and  guided  by 
your  taste,  with  extraordinary  force You  have  raised  a  noble  monu 
ment  to  the  four  great  men  who  have  adorned  your  State,  and  I  feel  deeply 
humbled  with  a  sense  of  my  own  miserable  inferiority  when  I  contemplate 
such  exalted  models." 

These  contemporary  tokens  of  friendship  and  sympathy  seem  a  proper 
part  of  this  record. 


ORATIOtf. 


TO-DAY  is  the  festival  of  our  fraternity,  sacred  to 
learning,  to  friendship,  and  to  truth.  From  many 
places,  remote  and  near,  we  have  come  together  be 
neath  the  benediction  of  Alma  Mater.  We  have  walked 
in  the  grateful  shelter  of  her  rich  embowering  trees. 
Friend  has  met  friend,  classmate  has  pressed  the  hand 
of  classmate,  while  the  ruddy  memories  of  youth  and 
early  study  have  risen  upon  the  soul.  And  now  we 
have  come  up  to  this  church,  a  company  of  broth 
ers,  in  long,  well-ordered  procession,  commencing  with 
the  silver  locks  of  reverend  age,  and  closing  with 
the  fresh  faces  that  glow  with  the  golden  blood  of 
youth. 

With  hearts  of  gratitude,  we  greet  among  our  number 
those  whose  lives  are  crowned  by  desert, — especially  him 
who,  returning  from  conspicuous  cares  in  a  foreign  land, 
now  graces  our  chief  seat  of  learning,1  —  and  not  less 
him  who,  closing,  in  the  high  service  of  the  University, 
a  life-long  career  of  probity  and  honor,  now  voluntarily 
withdraws  to  a  scholar's  repose.2  We  salute  at  once  the 
successor  and  the  predecessor,  the  rising  and  the  set- 

1  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  President  of  Harvard  University. 

2  Hon.  Josiah  Qumcy,  late  President  of  Harvard  University. 


246  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

ting  sun.  And  ingenuous  youth,  in  whose  bosom  are 
infolded  the  germs  of  untold  excellence,  whose  ardent 
soul  sees  visions  closed  to  others  by  the  hand  of  Time, 
commands  our  reverence  not  less  than  age  rich  in  ex 
perience  and  honor.  The  Present  and  the  Past,  with  all 
their  works,  we  know  and  measure ;  but  the  triumphs 
of  the  Future  are  unknown  and  immeasurable ;  —  there 
fore  is  there  in  the  yet  untried  powers  of  youth  a  vast- 
ness  of  promise  to  quicken  the  regard.  Welcome,  then, 
not  less  the  young  than  the  old  !  and  may  this  our  holi 
day  brighten  with  harmony  and  joy ! 

As  the  eye  wanders  around  our  circle,  Mr.  President, 
in  vain  it  seeks  a  beloved  form,  for  many  years  so  wel 
come  in  the  seat  you  now  fill.  I  might  have  looked 
to  behold  him  on  this  occasion.  But  death,  since  we 
last  met  together,  has  borne  him  away.  The  love  of 
friends,  the  devotion  of  pupils,  the  prayers  of  the  nation, 
the  concern  of  the  world,  could  not  shield  him  from  the 
inexorable  shaft.  Borrowing  for  him  those  words  of 
genius  and  friendship  which  gushed  from  Clarendon  at 
the  name  of  Falkland,  that  he  was  "  a  person  of  pro 
digious  parts  of  learning  and  knowledge,  of  inimitable 
sweetness  and  delight  in  conversation,  of  flowing  and 
obliging  humanity  and  goodness  to  mankind,  and  of 
primitive  simplicity  and  integrity  of  life," l  I  need  not 
add  the  name  of  STORY.  To  dwell  on  his  character,  and 
all  that  he  has  done,  were  a  worthy  theme.  But  his  is 
not  the  only  well-loved  countenance  which  returns  no 
answering  smile. 

This  year  our  Society,  according  to  custom,  publishes 
the  catalogue  of  its  members,  marking  by  a  star  the  in- 
satiate  archery  of  Death  during  the  brief  space  of  four 

l  History  of  the  Rebellion,  Book  VII. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  247 

years.  In  no  period  of  its  history,  equally  short,  have 
such  shining  marks  been  found. 

"  Now  kindred  Merit  fills  the  sable  bier, 
Now  lacerated  Friendship  claims  a  tear; 
Year  chases  year,  decay  pursues  decay, 
Still  drops  some  joy  from  withering  life  away."  1 

Scholarship,  Jurisprudence,  Art,  Humanity,  each  is 
called  to  mourn  a  chosen  champion.  Pickering  the 
Scholar,  Story  the  Jurist,  Allston  the  Artist,  Channing 
the  Philanthropist,  are  gone.  When  our  last  catalogue 
was  published  they  were  all  living,  each  in  his  field  of 
fame.  Our  catalogue  of  this  year  gathers  them  with 
the  peaceful  dead.  Sweet  and  exalted  companionship ! 
They  were  joined  in  life,  in  renown,  and  in  death.  They 
were  brethren  of  our  fraternity,  sons  of  Alma  Mater. 
Story  and  Channing  were  classmates ;  Pickering  pre 
ceded  them  by  two  years  only,  Allston  followed  them 
by  two  years.  Casting  our  eyes  upon  the  closing  lus 
tre  of  the  last  century,  we  discern  this  brilliant  group 
whose  mortal  light  is  now  obscured.  After  the  toils  of 
his  long  life,  Pickering  sleeps  serenely  in  the  place  of 
his  birth,  near  the  honored  dust  of  his  father.  Chan 
ning,  Story,  and  Allston  have  been  laid  to  rest  in  Cam 
bridge,  where  they  first  tasted  together  the  tree  of  life  : 
Allston  in  the  adjoining  church-yard,  within  sound  of 
the  voice  that  now  addresses  you ;  Channing  and  Story 
in  the  pleasant,  grassy  bed  of  Mount  Auburn,  under  the 
shadow  of  beautiful  trees,  whose  falling  autumnal  leaves 
are  fit  emblem  of  the  generations  of  men. 

It  was  the  custom  in  ancient  Eome,  on  solemn  occa 
sions,  to  bring  forward  the  images  of  departed  friends, 
arrayed  in  robes  of  office,  and  carefully  adorned,  while 

1  Johnson,  Vanity  of  Human  Wishes,  w.  303-  30«. 


248  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

some  one  recounted  what  they  had  done,  in  the  hope 
of  refreshing  the  memory  of  their  deeds,  and  of  in 
spiring  the  living  with  new  impulse  to  virtue.  "  For 
who,"  says  the  ancient  historian,  "  can  behold  without 
emotion  the  forms  of  so  many  illustrious  men,  thus  liv 
ing,  as  it  were,  and  breathing  together  in  his  presence  ? 
or  what  spectacle  can  be  conceived  more  great  and  strik 
ing  ? " l  The  images  of  our  departed  brothers  are  present 
here  to-day,  not  in  sculptured  marble,  but  graven  on  our 
hearts.  "We  behold  them  again,  as  in  life.  They  mingle 
in  our  festival,  and  cheer  us  by  their  presence.  It  were 
well  to  catch  the  opportunity  of  observing  together  their 
well-known  lineaments,  and  of  dwelling  anew,  with 
warmth  of  living  affection,  upon  the  virtues  by  which 
they  are  commended.  Devoting  the  hour  to  their  mem 
ory,  we  may  seek  also  to  comprehend  and  reverence  the 
great  interests  which  they  lived  to  promote.  Pickering, 
Story,  Allston,  Channing  !  Their  names  alone,  without 
addition,  awaken  a  response,  which,  like  the  far-famed 
echo  of  Dodona,  will  prolong  itself  through  the  live 
long  day.  But,  great  as  they  are,  we  feel  their  insignifi 
cance  by  the  side  of  those  great  causes  to  which  their 
days  were  consecrated,  —  Knowledge,  Justice,  Beauty, 
Love,  the  comprehensive  attributes  of  God.  Illustri 
ous  on  earth,  they  were  but  lowly  and  mortal  ministers 
of  lofty  and  immortal  truth.  It  is,  then,  THE  SCHOLAR, 
THE  JURIST,  THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST,  whom  we 
celebrate  to-day,  and  whose  pursuits  will  be  the  theme 
of  my  discourse. 

Here,  on  this  threshold,  let  me  say,  what  is  implied 
in  the  very  statement  of  my  subject,  that,  in  offering 
these  tributes,  I  seek  no  occasion  for  personal  eulogy  or 

l  Hampton's  Polybin»,  Book  VL  Ext  II.  ch.  2. 


THE   ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  249 

biographical  detail.  My  aim  is  to  commemorate  the 
men,  but  more  to  advance  the  objects  which  they  so 
successfully  served.  Reversing  the  order  in  which  they 
left  us,  I  shall  take  the  last  first. 

JOHN  PICKERING,  THE  SCHOLAR,  died  in  the  month  of 
May,  1846,  aged  sixty-nine,  within  a  short  distance  of 
that  extreme  goal  which  is  the  allotted  limit  of  human 
life.  By  Scholar  I  mean  a  cultivator  of  liberal  studies,  a 
student  of  knowledge  in  its  largest  sense,  —  not  merely 
classical,  not  excluding  what  in  our  day  is  exclusively 
called  science,  but  which  was  unknown  when  the  title 
of  scholar  first  prevailed  ;  for  though  Cicero  dealt  a  sar 
casm  at  Archimedes,  he  spoke  with  higher  truth  when 
he  beautifully  recognized  the  common  bond  between  all 
departments  of  knowledge.  The  brother  whom  we 
mourn  was  a  scholar,  a  student,  as  long  as  he  lived.  His 
place  was  not  merely  among  those  called  by  courtesy 
Educated  Men,  with  most  of  whom  education  is  past 
and  gone,  —  men  who  have  studied  ;  he  studied  always. 
Life  to  him  was  an  unbroken  lesson,  pleasant  with  the 
charm  of  knowledge  and  the  consciousness  of  improve 
ment. 

The  world  knows  and  reveres  his  learning ;  they  only 
who  partook  somewhat  of  his  daily  life  fully  know  the 
modesty  of  his  character.  His  knowledge  was  such 
that  he  seemed  to  be  ignorant  of  nothing,  while,  in  the 
perfection  of  his  humility,  he  might  seem  to  know 
nothing.  By  learning  conspicuous  before  the  world,  his 
native  diffidence  withdrew  him  from  its  personal  obser 
vation.  Surely,  learning  so  great,  which  claimed  so  little, 
will  not  be  forgotten.  The  modesty  which  detained  him 
in  retirement  during  life  introduces  him  now  that  he  is 


250  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

dead.  Strange  reward !  Merit  which  shrank  from  the 
living  gaze  is  now  observed  of  all  men.  The  voice  once 
so  soft  is  returned  in  echoes  from  the  tomb. 

I  place  in  the  front  his  modesty  and  his  learning,  two 
attributes  by  which  he  will  be  always  remembered.  I 
might  enlarge  on  his  sweetness  of  temper,  his  simplici 
ty  of  life,  his  kindness  to  the  young,  his  sympathy  with 
studies  of  all  kinds,  his  sensibility  to  beauty,  his  con 
scientious  character,  his  passionless  mind.  Could  he 
speak  to  us  of  himself,  he  might  adopt  words  of  self- 
painting  from  the  candid  pen  of  his  eminent  predecessor 
in  the  cultivation  of  Grecian  literature,  leader  of  its  re 
vival  in  Europe,  as  Pickering  was  leader  in  America,  — 
the  urbane  and  learned  Erasmus.  "  For  my  own  part," 
says  the  early  scholar  to  his  English  friend,  John  Colet, 
"  I  best  know  my  own  failings,  and  therefore  shall  pre 
sume  to  give  a  character  of  myself.  You  have  in  me  a 
man  of  little  or  no  fortune, — a  stranger  to  ambition, — of 
a  strong  propensity  to  loving-kindness  and  friendship, — 
without  any  boast  of  learning,  but  a  great  admirer  of  it,  — 
one  who  has  a  profound  veneration  for  any  excellence  in 
others,  however  he  may  feel  the  want  of  it  in  himself,  — 
who  can  readily  yield  to  others  in  learning,  but  to  none 
in  integrity, —  a  man  sincere,  open,  and  free,  —  a  hater 
of  falsehood  and  dissimulation,  —  of  a  mind  lowly  and 
upright,  —  of  few  words,  and  who  boasts  of  nothing  but 
an  honest  heart." * 

I  have  called  him  Scholar ;  for  it  is  in  this  character 
that  he  leaves  so  excellent  an  example.  But  the  tri 
umphs  of  his  life  are  enhanced  by  the  variety  of  his 
labors,  and  especially  by  his  long  career  at  the  bar.  He 
was  a  lawyer,  whose  days  were  spent  in  the  faithful 

1  Erasmi  Epirt.,  Lib.  V.  Ep.  4. 


THE   ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  251 

practice  of  his  profession,  busy  with  clients,  careful  of 
their  concerns  in  court  and  out  of  court.  Each  day 
•witnessed  his  untiring  exertion  in  scenes  little  attrac 
tive  to  his  gentle  and  studious  nature.  He  was  formed 
to  be  a  seeker  of  truth  rather  than  a  defender  of  wrong ; 
and  he  found  less  satisfaction  in  the  strifes  of  the  bar 
than  in  the  conversation  of  books.  To  him  litigation 
was  a  sorry  feast,  and  a  well-filled  docket  of  cases  not 
unlike  the  curious  and  now  untasted  dish  of  "  nettles," 
in  the  first  course  of  a  Roman  banquet.  He  knew  that 
the  duties  of  the  profession  were  important,  but  felt  that 
even  their  successful  performance,  when  unattended  by  ju 
ridical  culture,  gave  small  title  to  regard,  while  they  were 
less  pleasant  and  ennobling  than  the  disinterested  pur 
suit  of  learning.  He  would  have  said,  at  least  as  regards 
his  own  profession,  with  the  Lord  Archon  of  the  Oceana, 
"  I  will  stand  no  more  to  the  judgment  of  lawyers  and 
divines  than  to  that  of  so  many  other  tradesmen."  l 

It  was  the  law  as  a  trade  that  he  pursued  reluctantly, 
while  he  had  true  happiness  in  the  science  of  jurispru 
dence,  to  which  he  devoted  many  hours  rescued  from 
other  cares.  By  example,  and  contributions  of  the  pen, 
he  elevated  the  study,  and  invested  it  with  the  charm  of 
liberal  pursuits.  By  marvellous  assiduity  he  was  able 
to  lead  two  lives,  —  one  producing  the  fruits  of  earth, 
the  other  of  immortality.  In  him  was  the  union,  rare 
as  it  is  grateful,  of  lawyer  and  scholar.  He  has  taught 
how  much  may  be  done  for  jurisprudence  and  learning 
even  amidst  the  toils  of  professional  life;  while  the 
enduring  lustre  of  his  name  contrasts  with  the  fugitive 
reputation  which  is  the  lot  of  the  mere  lawyer,  although 
clients  beat  at  his  gates  from  cock-crow  at  the  dawn. 

1  Harrington's  Oceana,  p.  184. 


252  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

To  describe  his  labors  of  scholarship  would  be  im- 
possible  on  this  occasion.  Although  important  contri 
butions  to  the  sum  of  knowledge,  they  were  of  a  char- 
acter  only  slightly  appreciated  by  the  world  at  large. 
They  were  chiefly  directed  to  two  subjects,  —  classical 
studies  and  general  philology,  if  these  two  may  be  re 
garded  separately. 

His  early  life  was  marked  by  a  particular  interest  in 
classical  studies.  At  a  time  when,  in  our  country,  accu 
rate  and  extensive  scholarship  was  rare,  he  aspired  to 
possess  it.  By  daily  and  nightly  toil  he  mastered  the 
great  exemplars  of  antiquity,  and  found  delight  in  their 
beauties.  His  example  was  persuasive.  And  he  added 
earnest  effort  to  promote  their  study  in  the  learned 
seminaries  of  our  country.  With  unanswerable  force 
he  urged  among  us  a  standard  of  education  commen 
surate,  in  every  substantial  respect,  with  that  of  Eu 
rope.  He  desired  for  the  American  youth  on  his  native 
soil,  under  the  influence  of  free  institutions,  a  course  of 
instruction  rendering  foreign  aid  superfluous.  He  had 
a  just  pride  of  country,  and  longed  for  its  good  name 
through  accomplished  representatives,  well  knowing  that 
the  American  scholar,  wherever  lie  wanders  in  foreign 
lands,  is  a  living  recommendation  of  the  institutions 
under  which  he  was  reared. 

He  knew  that  scholarship  of  all  kinds  would  gild  the 
life  of  its  possessor,  enlarge  the  resources  of  the  bar, 
enrich  the  voice  of  the  pulpit,  and  strengthen  the  learn 
ing  of  medicine.  He  knew  that  it  would  afford  a  sooth 
ing  companionship  in  hours  of  relaxation  from  labor,  in 
periods  of  sadness,  and  in  the  evening  of  life;  that, 
when  once  embraced,  it  was  more  constant  than  friend 
ship, —  attending  its  votary,  as  an  invisible  spirit,  in  the 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  253 

toils  of  the  day,  the  watches  of  the  night,  the  changes 
of  travel,  and  the  alternations  of  fortune  or  health. 

In  commending  classical  studies  it  would  be  difficult 
to  say  that  he  attached  to  them  undue  importance.  By 
his  own  example  he  showed  that  he  bore  them  no  ex 
clusive  love.  He  regarded  them  as  an  essential  part  of 
liberal  education,  opening  the  way  to  other  realms  of 
knowledge,  while  they  mature  the  taste  and  invigorate 
the  understanding.  Here  probably  all  will  concur.  It 
may  be  questioned,  whether,  in  our  hurried  American 
life,  it  is  possible,  with  proper  regard  for  other  studies, 
to  introduce  into  ordinary  classical  education  the  ex 
quisite  skill  which  is  the  pride  of  English  scholarship, 
reminding  us  of  the  minute  finish  in  Chinese  art,  —  or 
the  ponderous  and  elaborate  learning  which  is  the  won 
der  of  Germany,  reminding  us  of  the  unnatural  perspec 
tive  in  a  Chinese  picture.  But  much  will  be  done,  if  we 
establish  those  habits  of  accuracy,  acquired  only  through 
early  and  careful  training,  which  enable  us  at  least  to 
appreciate  the  severe  beauty  of  antiquity,  while  they 
become  an  invaluable  standard  and  measure  of  attain 
ment  in  other  things. 

The  ckssics  possess  a  peculiar  charm,  as  models,  I 
might  say  masters,  of  composition  and  form.  In  the 
contemplation  of  these  august  teachers  we  are  filled 
with  conflicting  emotions.  They  are  the  early  voice  of 
the  world,  better  remembered  and  more  cherished  than 
any  intermediate  voice,  —  as  the  language  of  childhood 
still  haunts  us,  when  the  utterances  of  later  years  are 
effaced  from  the  mind.  But  they  show  the  rudeness 
of  the  world's  childhood,  before  passion  yielded  to 
the  sway  of  reason  and  the  affections.  They  want 
purity,  righteousness,  and  that  highest  charm  which  is 


254  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

found  in  love  to  God  and  man.  Not  in  the  frigid  phi 
losophy  of  the  Porch  and  the  Academy  are  we  to  seek 
these ;  not  in  the  marvellous  teachings  of  Socrates,  as 
they  come  mended  by  the  mellifluous  words  of  Plato ; 
not  in  the  resounding  line  of  Homer,  on  whose  inspiring 
tale  of  blood  Alexander  pillowed  his  head  ;  not  in  the 
animated  strain  of  Pindar,  where  virtue  is  pictured  in 
the  successful  strife  of  an  athlete  at  the  Olympian  games ; 
not  in  the  torrent  of  Demosthenes,  dark  with  self-love 
and  the  spirit  of  vengeance ;  not  in  the  fitful  philosophy 
and  boastful  eloquence  of  Tully  ;  not  in  the  genial  lib 
ertinism  of  Horace,  or  the  stately  atheism  of  Lucretius. 
To  these  we  give  admiration ;  but  they  cannot  be  our 
highest  teachers.  In  none  of  these  is  the  way  of  life. 
For  eighteen  hundred  years  the  spirit  of  these  classics 
has  been  in  constant  contention  with  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  and  with  those  two  sublime  commandments  on 
which  "  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." l  The  strife 
is  still  pending,  and  who  shall  say  when  it  will  end  ? 
Heathenism,  which  possessed  itself  of  such  Siren  forms, 
is  not  yet  exorcised.  Even  now  it  exerts  a  powerful 
sway,  imbuing  youth,  coloring  the  thought  of  man 
hood,  and  haunting  the  meditation  of  age.  Widening 
still  in  sphere,  it  embraces  nations  as  well  as  individu 
als,  until  it  seems  to  sit  supreme. 

1  Terence,  taught,  perhaps,  by  his  own  bitter  experience  aa  slave,  has 
given  expression  to  truth  almost  Christian,  when  he  says,  — 

"  Homo  sum,  human!  nihil  a  me  aliennm  puto." 

Heauto*.,  Act  I.  Sc.  1. 
And  in  the  Andria,  — 

"  Facile  omnes  perferre  ac  pati, 
Cum  qnibus  erat  cunque  nna:  its  sese  dedere  : 
Eorum  olxequi  studiis:  advorsus  nemini: 
Nunqnam  pneponens  se  illis." 

Act  I.  Sc.  1. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.       255 

Our  own  productions,  though  yielding  to  the  ancient 
in  arrangement,  method,  beauty  of  form,  and  freshness 
of  illustration,  are  superior  in  truth,  delicacy,  and  eleva 
tion  of  sentiment, —  above  all,  in  the  recognition  of  that 
peculiar  revelation,  the  Brotherhood  of  Man.  Vain  are 
eloquence  and  poetry,  compared  with  this  heaven- 
descended  truth.  Put  in  one  scale  that  simple  ut 
terance,  and  in  the  other  all  the  lore  of  antiquity,  with 
its  accumulating  glosses  and  commentaries,  and  the 
latter  will  be  light  in  the  balance.  Greek  poetry  has 
been  likened  to  the  song  of  the  nightingale,  as  she  sits 
in  th«  rich,  symmetrical  crown  of  the  palm-tree,  trilling 
her  thick- warbled  notes ;  but  these  notes  will  not  com 
pare  in  sweetness  with  those  teachings  of  charity  which 
belong  to  our  Christian  inheritance. 

These  things  cannot  be  forgotten  by  the  scholar. 
From  the  Past  he  may  draw  all  it  can  contribute  to  the 
great  end  of  life,  human  progress  and  happiness,  —  pro 
gress,  without  which  happiness  is  vain.  But  he  must 
close  his  soul  to  the  hardening  influence  of  that  spirit, 
which  is  more  to  be  dreaded,  as  it  is  enshrined  in  com 
positions  of  such  commanding  authority. 

"  Sunk  in  Homer's  mine, 
I  lose  my  precious  years,  now  soon  to  fail, 
Handling  his  gold;  which,  howsoe'er  it  shine, 
Proves  dross,  when  balanced  in  the  Christian  scale."  * 

In  the  department  of  philology,  kindred  to  that  of 
the  classics,  our  Scholar  labored  with  similar  success. 
Unlike  Sir  William  Jones  in  genius,  he  was  like  this 
English  scholar  in  the  multitude  of  languages  he  em 
braced.  Distance  of  time  and  space  was  forgotten,  as 
he  explored  the  far-off  primeval  Sanscrit,  —  the  hiero- 

1  Cowper,  Sonnet  to  John  Johnson:  Minor  Poems. 


256  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

glyphics  of  Egypt,  now  awakening  from  the  mute 
repose  of  centuries,  —  the  polite  and  learned  tongues 
of  ancient  and  modern  Europe,  —  the  languages  of 
Mohammedanism,  —  the  various  dialects  in  the  forests 
of  North  America,  and  in  the  sandal-groves  of  the 
Pacific,  —  only  closing  with  a  lingua  franca  from  an 
unlettered  tribe  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  which  his 
attention  was  called  during  the  illness  which  ended  in 
death. 

This  recital  exhibits  the  variety  and  extent  of  his 
studies  in  a  department  which  is  supposed  inaccessible, 
except  to  peculiar  and  Herculean  labors.  He  had  a  nat 
ural  and  intuitive  perception  of  affinities  in  language, 
and  of  its  hidden  relations.  His  researches  have  thrown 
important  light  on  the  general  principles  of  this  science, 
as  also  on  the  history  and  character  of  individual  lan 
guages.  In  devising  an  alphabet  of  the  Indian  tongues 
in  North  America,  since  adopted  in  the  Polynesian 
Islands,  he  rendered  a  brilliant  service  to  civilization. 
It  is  pleasant  to  contemplate  the  Scholar  sending  forth 
from  his  seclusion  this  priceless  instrument  of  improve 
ment.  On  the  distant  islands  once  moistened  by  the 
blood  of  Cook  newspapers  and  books  are  printed  in  a 
native  language,  which  was  reduced  to  a  written  char 
acter  by  the  care  and  genius  of  Pickering.  The  Vocab 
ulary  of  Americanisms  and  the  Greek  and  English 
Lexicon  attest  still  further  the  variety  and  value  of  his 
philological  labors ;  nor  can  we  sufficiently  admire  the 
facility  with  which,  amidst  the  duties  of  an  arduous 
profession  and  the  temptations  of  scholarship,  he  as 
sumed  the  appalling  task  of  the  lexicographer,  which 
Scaliger  compares  to  the  labors  of  the  anvil  and  the 
mine. 


THE   ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  257 

There  are  critics,  ignorant,  hasty,  or  supercilious,  who 
are  too  apt  to  disparage  the  toils  of  the  philologist,  treat 
ing  them  sometimes  as  curious  only,  sometimes  as  triv 
ial,  or,  when  they  enter  into  lexicography,  as  those  of  a 
harmless  drudge.  It  might  be  sufficient  to  reply,  that 
all  exercise  of  the  intellect  promoting  forgetfulness  of 
self  and  the  love  of  science  ministers  essentially  to 
human  improvement.  But  philology  may  claim  other 
suffrages.  It  is  its  province  to  aid  in  determining 
the  character  of  words,  their  extraction  and  signifi 
cation,  and  in  other  ways  to  guide  and  explain  the  use 
of  language ;  nor  is  it  generous,  while  enjoying  elo 
quence,  poetry,  science,  and  the  many  charms  of  litera 
ture,  to  withhold  our  gratitude  from  silent  and  sometimes 
obscure  labors  in  illustration  of  that  great  instrument 
without  which  all  the  rest  is  nothing. 

The  science  of  Comparative  Philology,  which  our 
Scholar  has  illustrated,  may  rank  with  shining  pursuits. 
It  challenges  a  place  by  the  side  of  that  science  which 
received  such  development  from  the  genius  of  Cuvier. 
The  study  of  Comparative  Anatomy  has  thrown  unex 
pected  light  on  the  physical  history  of  the  animate 
creation  ;  but  it  cannot  be  less  interesting  or  important 
to  explore  the  unwritten  history  of  the  human  race  in 
languages  that  have  been  spoken,  to  trace  their  pedi 
gree,  to  detect  their  affinities,  —  seeking  the  prevailing 
law  by  which  they  are  governed.  As  we  comprehend 
these  things,  confusion  and  discord  retreat,  the  Frater 
nity  of  Man  stands  confessed,  and  the  philologist  be 
comes  a  minister  at  the  altar  of  universal  philanthropy. 
In  the  study  of  the  Past,  he  learns  to  anticipate  the 
Future ;  and  in  sublime  vision  he  sees,  with  Leibnitz, 
that  Unity  of  the  Human  Kace  which,  in  the  succes- 

Q 


258  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

sion  of  ages,  will  find  its  expression  in  an  instrument 
more  marvellous  than  the  infinite  Calculus,  —  a  uni 
versal  language,  with  an  alphabet  of  human  thoughts.1 

As  the  sun  draws  moisture  from  rill,  stream,  lake,  and 
ocean,  to  be  returned  in  fertilizing  shower  upon  the 
earth,  so  did  our  Scholar  derive  knowledge  from  all 
sources,  to  be  diffused  in  beneficent  influence  upon  the 
world.  He  sought  it  not  in  study  only,  but  in  con 
verse  with  men,  and  in  experience  of  life.  His  curious 
essay  on  the  Pronunciation  of  the  Ancient  Greek  Lan 
guage  was  suggested  by  listening  to  Greek  sailors,  whom 
the  temptations  of  commerce  had  conducted  to  our 
shores  from  their  historic  sea. 

Such  a  character  —  devoted  to  works  of  wide  and 
enduring  interest,  not  restricted  to  international  lines 
—  awakened  respect  and  honor  wherever  learning  was 
cultivated.  His  name  was  associated  with  illustrious 
fraternities  of  science  in  foreign  nations,  while  scholars 
who  could  not  know  him  face  to  face,  by  an  ami 
able  commerce  of  letters  sought  the  aid  and  sympa 
thy  of  his  learning.  His  death  has  broken  these  living 
links  of  fellowship ;  but  his  name,  that  cannot  die,  will 
continue  to  bind  all  who  love  knowledge  and  virtue  to 
the  land  which  was  blessed  by  his  presence. 


From  the  Scholar  I  pass  to  THE  JURIST.  JOSEPH 
STORY  died  in  the  month  of  September,  1845,  aged  sixty- 
six.  His  countenance,  familiar  in  this  presence,  was 
always  so  beaming  with  goodness  and  kindness  that  its 
withdrawal  seems  to  lessen  sensibly  the  brightness  of 

1  FonteneTle,  ftoge  de  Leibnitz:  (Euvres, Tom.  V.  p.  493.  Leibnitz,  Opera, 
ed.  Dntens,  VoL  V.  p.  7. 


THE  AETIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  259 

the  scene.  We  are  assembled  near  the  seat  of  his  fa 
vorite  pursuits,  among  the  neighbors  intimate  with  his 
private  virtues,  close  by  the  home  hallowed  by  his  do 
mestic  altar.  These  paths  he  often  trod ;  and  all  that 
our  eyes  here  look  upon  seems  to  reflect  his  genial 
smile.  His  twofold  official  relations  with  the  Univer 
sity,  his  high  judicial  station,  his  higher  character  as 
Jurist,  invest  his  name  with  a  peculiar  interest,  while 
the  unconscious  kindness  which  he  showed  to  all,  es 
pecially  the  young,  touches  the  heart,  making  us  rise 
up  and  call  him  blessed.  How  fondly  would  the  youth 
nurtured  in  jurisprudence  at  his  feet  —  were  such  an 
offering,  Alcestis-like,  within  the  allotments  of  Prov 
idence  —  have  prolonged  their  beloved  master's  days  at 
the  expense  of  their  own ! 

The  University,  by  the  voice  of  his  learned  associate, 
has  already  rendered  tribute  to  his  name.  The  tri 
bunals  of  justice  throughout  the  country  have  given 
utterance  to  their  solemn  grief,  and  the  funeral  torch 
has  passed  across  the  sea  into  foreign  lands. 

He  has  been  heard  to  confess  that  literature  was  his 
earliest  passion,  which  yielded  only  to  a  sterner  sum 
mons  beckoning  to  professional  life ;  and  they  who 
knew  him  best  cannot  forget  that  he  continued  to  the 
last  fond  of  poetry  and  polite  letters,  and  would  often 
turn  from  Themis  to  the  Muses.  Nor  can  it  be  doubted 
that  this  feature,  which  marks  the  resemblance  to  Sel- 
den,  Somers,  Mansfield,  and  Blackstone,  in  England,  and 
to  L'Hopital  and  D'Aguesseau,  in  France,  has  added  to 
the  brilliancy  and  perfection  of  his  character  as  a  jurist. 
In  the  history  of  jurisprudence  it  would  not  be  easy  to 
mention  a  single  person  winning  its  highest  palm  who 
was  not  a  scholar  also. 


260  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

The  first  hardships  incident  to  study  of  the  law,  which 
perplexed  the  youthful  spirit  of  the  learned  Spelman,  be 
set  our  Jurist  with  disheartening  force.  Let  the  young 
remember  his  trial  and  his  triumph,  and  be  of  good 
cheer.  According  to  the  custom  of  his  day,  while  yet 
a  student  in  the  town  of  Marblehead,  he  undertook 
to  read  Coke  on  Littleton,  in  the  large  folio  edition, 
thatched  over  with  those  manifold  annotations  which 
cause  the  best-trained  lawyer  to  "gasp  and  stare." 
Striving  to  force  his  way  through  the  black-letter  page, 
he  was  filled  with  despair.  It  was  but  a  moment. 
The  tears  poured  from  his  eyes  upon  the  open  book. 
Those  tears  were  his  precious  baptism  into  the  learning 
of  the  law.  From  that  time  forth  he  persevered,  with 
ardor  and  confidence,  from  triumph  to  triumph. 

He  was  elevated  to  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  by  the  side  of  Marshall,  at  the 
early  age  of  thirty-two.  At  the  same  early  age  Buller 
—  reputed  the  ablest  judge  of  Westminster  Hall,  in  the 
list  of  those  who  never  arrived  at  the  honors  of  Chief 
Justice  —  was  induced  to  renounce  an  income  larger 
than  the  salary  of  a  judge,  to  take  a  seat  by  the  side 
of  Mansfield.  The  parallel  continues.  During  the  re 
mainder  of  Mansfield's  career  on  the  bench,  Buller  was 
the  friend  and  associate  upon  whom  he  chiefly  leaned  ; 
and- history  records  the  darling  desire  of  the  venerable 
Chief  Justice  that  his  faithful  assistant  should  succeed 
to  his  seat  and  chain  of  office ;  but  these  wishes,  the 
hopes  of  the  profession,  and  his  own  continued  labors 
were  disregarded  by  a  minister  who  seldom  rewarded 
any  but  political  services,  —  I  mean  Mr.  Pitt.  Our 
brother,  like  Buller,  was  the  friend  and  associate  of  a 
venerable  chief  justice,  by  whose  side  he  sat  for  many 


THE   ARTIST,   THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  261 

years ;  nor  do  I  state  any  fact  which  I  should  not  for 
the  sake  of  history,  when  I  add,  that  it  was  the  long- 
cherished  desire  of  Marshall  that  Story  should  be  his 
successor.  It  was  ordered  otherwise  ;  and  he  continued 
a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  for  the  space  of  thirty- 
four  years,  —  a  judicial  life  of  almost  unexampled  length 
in  the  history  of  the  Common  Law,  and  of  precisely 
the  same  duration  with  the  illustrious  magistracy  of 
D'Aguesseau  in  France. 

As  judge,  he  was  called  to  administer  a  most  ex 
tensive  jurisdiction,  embracing  matters  which  in  Eng 
land  are  so  variously  distributed  that  they  never  come 
before  any  one  court ;  and  in  each  department  he  has 
shown  himself  second  to  none  other,  unless  we  unite 
with  him  in  deferring  to  Marshall  as  the  greatest  ex 
pounder  of  a  branch  peculiar  to  ourselves,  Constitutional 
Law.  Nor  will  it  be  easy  to  mention  any  other  judge 
who  has  left  behind  so  large  a  number  of  judgments 
which  belong  to  the  first  class  in  the  literature  of  the  law. 
Some  excel  in  a  special  branch,  to  which  their  learning 
and  labor  are  directed.  He  excelled  in  all  At  home 
in  the  feudal  niceties  of  Eeal  Law,  with  its  depen 
dencies  of  descents,  remainders,  and  executory  devises, 
—  also  in  the  ancient  hair-splitting  technicalities  of 
Special  Pleading,  —  both  creatures  of  an  illiterate  age, 
gloomy  with  black-letter  and  verbal  subtilties,  —  he  was 
most  skilful  in  using  and  expounding  the  rules  of  Evi 
dence,  the  product  of  a  more  refined  period  of  juridical 
history,  —  was  master  of  the  common  law  of  Contracts, 
and  of  Commercial  Law  in  its  wide  expanse,  embracing 
so  large  a  part  of  those  topics  which  concern  the  busi 
ness  of  our  age,  —  was  familiar  with  Criminal  Law, 
which  he  administered  with  the  learning  of  a  judge  and 


262  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

the  tenderness  of  a  parent,  —  had  compassed  the  whole 
circle  of  Chancery  in  its  jurisdiction  and  its  pleadings, 
touching  all  the  interests  of  life,  and  subtilely  adapting 
the  Common  Law  to  our  own  age ;  and  he  ascended  with 
ease  to  those  less  trodden  heights  where  are  extended 
the  rich  demesnes  of  Admiralty,  the  Law  of  Prize,  and 
that  comprehensive  theme,  embracing  all  that  history, 
philosophy,  learning,  literature,  human  experience,  and 
Christianity  have  testified,  —  the  Law  of  Nations. 

It  was  not  as  judge  only  that  he  served.  He  sought 
other  means  of  illustrating  the  science  of  the  law  which 
he  loved  so  well,  and  to  the  cares  of  judicial  life  super- 
added  the  labors  of  author  and  teacher.  To  this  he  was 
moved  by  passion  for  the  law,  by  desire  to  aid  its  elu 
cidation,  and  by  the  irrepressible  instinct  of  his  nature, 
which  found  in  incessant  activity  the  truest  repose.  His 
was  that  constitution  of  mind  where  occupation  is  the 
normal  state.  He  was  possessed  by  a  genius  for  labor. 
Others  may  moil  in  law  as  constantly,  but  without  his 
loving,  successful  study.  What  he  undertook  he  always 
did  with  heart,  soul,  and  mind,  —  not  with  reluctant, 
vain  compliance,  but  with  his  entire  nature  bent  to  the 
task.  As  in  social  life,  so  was  he  in  study :  his  heart 
embraced  labor,  as  his  hand  grasped  the  hand  of  friend. 

As  teacher,  he  should  be  gratefully  remembered 
here.  He  was  Dane  Professor  of  Law  in  the  Univer 
sity.  By  the  attraction  of  his  name  students  were 
drawn  from  remote  parts  of  the  Union,  and  the  Law 
School,  which  had  been  a  sickly  branch,  became  the 
golden  mistletoe  of  our  ancient  oak.1  Besides  learning 
unsurpassed  in  his  profession,  he  brought  other  qualities 

1 "  Tails  erat  species  auri  frondentis  opaca 
IJice." 

VI.  208. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  263 

not  less  important  in  a  teacher,  —  goodness,  benevolence, 
and  a  willingness  to  teach.  Only  a  good  man  can  be  a 
teacher,  only  a  benevolent  man,  only  a  man  willing 
to  teach.  He  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  teach.  He 
sought  to  mingle  his  mind  with  that  of  his  pupil.  To 
pour  into  the  souls  of  the  young,  as  into  celestial  urns, 
the  fruitful  waters  of  knowledge,  was  to  him  a  blessed 
office.  The  kindly  enthusiasm  of  his  nature  found 
a  response.  Law,  sometimes  supposed  to  be  harsh 
and  crabbed,  became  inviting  under  his  instructions. 
Its  great  principles,  drawn  from  experience  and  re 
flection,  from  the  rules  of  right  and  wrong,  from  the 
unsounded  depths  of  Christian  truth,  illustrated  by  the 
learning  of  sages  and  the  judgments  of  courts,  he  un 
folded  so  as  to  inspire  a  love  for  their  study,  —  well 
knowing  that  the  knowledge  we  impart  is  trivial, 
compared  with  that  awakening  of  the  soul  under  the 
influence  of  which  the  pupil  himself  becomes  teacher. 
All  of  knowledge  we  can  communicate  is  finite  ;  a  few 
pages,  a  few  chapters,  a  few  volumes,  will  embrace  it ; 
but  such  an  influence  is  of  incalculable  power.  It  is 
the  breath  of  a  new  life ;  it  is  another  soul.  Story 
taught  as  priest  of  the  law  seeking  to  consecrate 
other  priests.  In  him  the  spirit  spake,  not  with  the 
voice  of  earthly  calling,  but  with  the  gentleness  and 
self-forgetful  earnestness  of  one  pleading  in  behalf  of 
justice,  knowledge,  happiness.  His  well-loved  pupils 
hung  upon  his  lips,  and,  as  they  left  his  presence,  con 
fessed  new  reverence  for  virtue,  and  warmer  love  of 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake. 

The  spirit  which  glowed  in  his  teachings  filled  his 
life.  He  was,  in  the  truest  sense,  Jurist,  —  student 
and  expounder  of  jurisprudence  as  a  science, —  not 


264          THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

merely  lawyer  or  judge,  pursuing  it  as  an  art  This 
distinction,  though  readily  perceived,  is  not  always  re 
garded. 

Members  of  the  profession,  whether  on  the  bench  or 
at  the  bar,  seldom  send  their  regard  beyond  the  case 
directly  before  them.  The  lawyer  is  generally  content 
with  the  applause  of  the  court-house,  the  approbation 
of  clients,  "fat  contentions,  and  flowing  fees."  Infre 
quently  does  he  render  voluntary  service  felt  beyond 
the  limited  circle  in  which  he  moves,  or  helping  for 
ward  the  landmarks  of  justice.  The  judge,  in  the  dis 
charge  of  his  duty,  applies  the  law  to  the  case  before 
him.  He  may  do  this  discreetly,  honorably,  justly, 
benignly,  in  such  wise  that  the  community  who  looked 
to  him  for  justice  shall  pronounce  his  name  with 
gratitude,  — 

"  That  his  bones, 

When  he  has  run  his  course  and  sleeps  in  blessings, 
May  have  a  tomb  of  orphans'  tears  wept  on  'em." 

But  the  function  of  lawyer  or  judge,  both  practising 
law,  is  unlike  that  of  the  jurist,  who,  whether  judge 
or  lawyer,  examines  every  principle  in  the  light  of 
science,  and,  while  doing  justice,  seeks  to  widen  and 
confirm  the  means  of  justice  hereafter.  All  ages  have 
abounded  in  lawyers  and  judges ;  there  is  no  church 
yard  that  does  not  contain  their  forgotten  dust.  But 
the  jurist  is  rare.  The  judge  passes  the  sentence  of 
the  law  upon  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  face  to  face ;  but 
the  jurist,  invisible  to  mortal  sight,  yet  speaks,  as  was 
said  of  the  Roman  Law,  swaying  by  the  reason,  when 
he  has  ceased  to  govern  by  the  living  voice.  Such  a 
character  does  not  live  for  the  present  only,  whether 
in  time  or  place.  Ascending  above  its  temptations, 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  265 

yielding  neither  to  the  love  of  gain  nor  to  the  seduc 
tion  of  ephemeral  praise,  he  perseveres  in  those  se 
rene  labors  which  help  to  build  the  mighty  dome  of 
justice,  beneath  which  all  men  are  to  seek  shelter  and 
peace. 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  the  complaint  of  lawyers 
and  judges,  as  they  liken  themselves,  in  short-lived 
fame,  to  the  well-graced  actor,  of  whom  only  uncertain 
traces  remain  when  his  voice  has  ceased  to  charm.  But 
they  labor  for  the  present  only.  How  can  they  hope  to 
be  remembered  beyond  the  present  ?  They  are  instru 
ments  of  a  temporary  and  perishable  purpose.  How 
can  they  hope  for  more  than  they  render  ?  They  do 
nothing  for  all.  How  can  they  think  to  be  remembered 
beyond  the  operation  of  their  labors  ?  So  far  forth,  in 
time  or  place,  as  any  beneficent  influence  is  felt,  so  far 
will  its  author  be  gratefully  commemorated.  Happy 
may  he  be,  if  he  has  done  aught  to  connect  his  name 
with  the  enduring  principles  of  justice  ! 

In  the  world's  history,  lawgivers  are  among  the  great 
est  and  most  godlike  characters.  They  are  reform 
ers  of  nations.  They  are  builders  of  human  society. 
They  are  fit  companions  of  the  master  poets  who  fill 
it  with  their  melody.  Man  will  never  forget  Homer, 
Virgil,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Goethe,  —  nor  those 
other  names  of  creative  force,  Minos,  Solon,  Lycurgus, 
Numa,  Justinian,  St.  Louis,  Napoleon  the  legislator. 
Each  is  too  closely  linked  with  human  progress  not  to 
be  always  remembered. 

In  their  train  follow  the  company  of  jurists,  whose 
labors  have  the  value  without  the  form  of  legislation, 
and  whose  recorded  opinions,  uttered  from  the  chair  of  a 
professor,  the  bench  of  a  judge,  or,  it  may  be,  from  the 

VOL.    I  12 


266         THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

seclusion  of  private  life,  continue  to  rule  the  nations. 
Here  are  Papinian,  Tribonian,  Paulus,  Gaius,  ancient, 
time-honored  masters  of  the  Roman  Law,  —  Cujas,  its 
most  illustrious  expounder  in  modern  times,  of  whom 
D'Aguesseau  said,  "  Cujas  has  spoken  the  language  of 
the  law  better  than  any  modern,  and  perhaps  as  well 
as  any  ancient,"  and  whose  renown  during  life,  in  the 
golden  age  of  jurisprudence,  was  such  that  in  the  public 
schools  of  Germany,  when  his  name  was  mentioned,  all 
took  off  their  hats,  —  Dumoulin,  kinsman  of  our  Eng 
lish  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  most  illustrious  expounder 
of  municipal  law,  one  of  whose  books  was  said  to  have 
accomplished  what  thirty  thousand  soldiers  of  his  mon 
arch  failed  to  do,  —  Hugo  Grotius,  filled  with  all  knowl 
edge  and  loving  all  truth,  author  of  that  marvellous 
work,  at  times  divine,  at  other  times,  alas !  too  much 
of  this  earth,  the  "  Laws  of  War  and  Peace,"  —  John 
Selden,  who  against  Grotius  vindicated  for  his  country 
the  dominion  of  the  sea,  supped  with  Ben  Jonson  at 
the  Mermaid,  and  became,  according  to  contemporary 
judgment,  the  great  dictator  of  learning  to  the  English 
nation,  —  D'Aguesseau,  who  brought  scholarship  to  ju 
risprudence  throughout  a  long  life  elevated  by  justice 
and  refined  by  all  that  character  and  study  could  be 
stow,  awakening  admiration  even  at  the  outset,  so  that 
a  retiring  magistrate  declared  that  he  should  be  glad 
to  end  as  the  young  man  began,  —  Pothier,  whose  pro 
fessor's  chair  was  kissed  in  reverence  by  pilgrims  from 
afar,  while  from  his  recluse  life  he  sent  forth  those 
treatises  which  enter  so  largely  into  the  invaluable 
codes  of  France,  —  Coke,  the  indefatigable,  pedantic, 
but  truly  learned  author  and  judge,  Mansfield,  the 
Chrysostom  of  the  bench,  and  Blackstone,  the  ele- 


THE  ABTIST,  THE  PHILANTHKOPIST.  267 

gant  commentator,  who  are  among  the  few  exemplars 
within  the  boast  of  the  English  Common  Law,  —  and, 
descending  to  our  own  day,  Pardessus,  of  France, 
to  whom  commercial  and  maritime  law  is  under  a 
larger  debt,  perhaps,  than  to  any  single  mind,  —  Thi- 
baut,  of  Germany,  earnest  and  successful  advocate  of 
a  just  scheme  for  the  reduction  of  the  unwritten  law 
to  the  certainty  of  a  written  text,  —  Savigny,  also 
of  Germany,  renowned  illustrator  of  the  Eoman  Law, 
who  is  yet  spared  to  his  favorite  science, —  and  in 
our  own  country  one  now  happily  among  us  to-day  by 
his  son,1  James  Kent,  the  unquestioned  living  head 
of  American  jurisprudence.  These  are  among  jurists. 
Let  them  not  be  confounded  with  the  lawyer,  bustling 
with  forensic  success,  although,  like  Dunning,  arbi 
ter  of  Westminster  Hall,  or,  like  Pinkney,  acknowl 
edged  chief  of  the  American  bar.  The  jurist  is  higher 
than  the  lawyer, —  as  Watt,  who  invented  the  steam- 
engine,  is  higher  than  the  journeyman  who  feeds  its 
fires  and  pours  oil  upon  its  irritated  machinery,  —  as 
Washington  is  more  exalted  than  the  Swiss,  who,  indif 
ferent  to  the  cause,  barters  for  money  the  vigor  of  his 
arm  and  the  sharpness  of  his  spear. 

The  lawyer  is  the  honored  artisan  of  the  law.  To 
kens  of  worldly  success  surround  him ;  but  his  labors 
are  on  the  things  of  to-day.  His  name  is  written  on 
the  sandy  margin  of  the  sounding  sea,  soon  to  be  washed 
away  by  the  embossed  foam  of  the  tyrannous  wave. 
Not  so  is  the  name  of  the  jurist.  This  is  inscribed  on 
the  immortal  tablets  of  the  law.  The  ceaseless  flow  of 
ages  does  not  wear  off  their  indestructible  front ;  the 

i  Hon.  William  Kent,  recently  appointed  Royall  Professor  of  Law  In 
Harvard  University. 


268  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

hour-glass  of  Time  refuses  to  measure  the  period  of  their 
duration. 

Into  the  company  of  Jurists  Story  has  now  passed, 
taking  place,  not  only  in  the  immediate  history  of  his 
country,  but  in  the  grander  history  of  civilization.  It 
was  a  saying  of  his,  often  uttered  in  the  confidence  of 
friendship,  that  a  man  may  be  measured  by  the  horizon 
of  his  mind,  whether  it  embraces  the  village,  town, 
county,  or  state  in  which  he  lives,  or  the  whole  broad 
country,  —  ay,  the  world  itself.  In  this  spirit  he  lived 
and  wrought,  elevating  himself  above  the  present,  and 
always  finding  in  jurisprudence  an  absorbing  inter 
est.  Only  a  few  days  before  the  illness  ending  in 
death,  it  was  suggested  to  him,  that,  as  he  was  about  to 
retire  from  the  bench,  there  were  many  who  would  be 
glad  to  see  him  President.  He  replied  at  once,  sponta 
neously,  and  without  hesitation,  "  that  the  office  of 
President  of  the  United  States  would  not  tempt  him 
from  his  professor's  chair  and  from  the  law."  So 
spoke  the  Jurist.  As  lawyer,  judge,  professor,  he  was 
always  Jurist.  While  administering  justice  between 
parties,  he  sought  to  extract  from  their  cause  the  ele 
ments  of  future  justice,  and  to  advance  the  science  of 
the  law.  Thus  his  judgments  have  a  value  stamped 
upon  them  which  is  not  restricted  to  the  occasions  when 
they  were  pronounced.  Like  the  gold  coin  of  the  He- 
public,  they  bear  the  image  and  superscription  of  sov 
ereignty,  which  is  recognized  wherever  they  go,  even 
in  foreign  lands. 

Many  years  ago  his  judgments  in  matters  of  Admi 
ralty  and  Prize  arrested  the  attention  of  that  famous 
judge  and  jurist,  Lord  Stowell ;  -and  Sir  James  Mackin 
tosh,  a  name  emblazoned  by  literature  and  jurisprudence, 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  269 

said  of  them,  that  they  were  "justly  admired  by  all  cul 
tivators  of  the  Law  of  Nations." l  He  has  often  been 
cited  as  authority  in  Westminster  Hall,  —  an  English 
tribute  to  a  foreign  jurist  almost  unprecedented,  as  all 
familiar  with  English  law  will  know;  and  the  Chief 
Justice  of  England  made  the  remarkable  declaration, 
with  regard  to  a  point  on  which  Story  differed  from 
the  Queen's  Bench,  that  his  opinion  would  "at  least 
neutralize  the  effect  of  the  English  decision,  and  in 
duce  any  of  their  courts  to  consider  the  question  as 
an  open  one."2  In  the  House  of  Lords,  Lord  Camp 
bell  characterized  him  as  "one  of  the  greatest  orna 
ments  of  the  United  States,  who  had  a  greater  reputa 
tion  as  a  legal  writer  than  any  author  England  could 
boast  since  the  days  of  Blackstone  "  ; 3  and,  in  a  letter 
to  our  departed  brother,  the  same  distinguished  mag 
istrate  said :  "  I  survey  with  increased  astonishment 
your  extensive,  minute,  exact,  and  familiar  knowledge 
of  English  legal  writers  in  every  department  of  the  law. 
A  similar  testimony  to  your  juridical  learning,  I  make 
no  doubt,  would  be  offered  by  the  lawyers  of  France  and 
Germany,  as  well  as  of  America,  and  we  should  all  con 
cur  in  placing  you  at  the  head  of  the  jurists  of  the  pres 
ent  age."  4  His  authority  was  acknowledged  in  France 
and  Germany,  the  classic  lands  of  jurisprudence  ;  nor  is 
it  too  much  to  say,  that  at  the  moment  of  his  death  he 

1  Letter  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh  to  Hon.  Edward  Everett,  dated  June  8, 
1824:    Life  and  Letters  of  Story,  Vol.  I.  p.  436. 

2  Letter  of  Lord  Denman  to  Charles  Sumner,  Esq.,  dated  September  29, 
1840:    Life  and  Letters  of  Story,  Vol.  II.  p.  879.     The  case  to  which  Lord 
Denman  referred  was  that  of  Peters  v.   The   Warren  Insurance  Company, 
3  Sumner's  Rep.  389,  where  Mr.  Justice  Story  dissented  from  the  case  of 
De  V*ux  v.  Snhador,  4  Adolph.  &  Ellis,  420. 

«  Hansard,  Parl.  Deb.,  LXVIII.  667. 

*  Life  and  Letters  of  Story,  Vol.  II.  p.  429. 


270  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

enjoyed  a  renown  such  as  had  never  before  been  achieved, 
during  life,  by  any  jurist  of  the  Common  Law. 

In  this  recital  I  state  simply  facts,  without  intending 
to  assert  presumptuously  for  our  brother  any  precedence 
in  the  scale  of  eminence.  The  extent  of  his  fame 
is  a  fact.  It  will  not  be  forgotten,  as  a  proper  con 
trast  to  his  fame,  which  was  not  confined  to  his  own 
country  or  to  England,  that  the  cultivators  of  the  Com 
mon  Law  have  hitherto  enjoyed  little  more  than  an  insu 
lar  reputation,  and  that  even  its  great  master  received 
on  the  Continent  no  higher  designation  than  quidam 
Cocus,  "  one  Coke. " 

In  the  Common  Law  was  the  spirit  of  liberty ;  in  that 
of  the  Continent  the  spirit  of  science.  The  Common 
Law  has  given  to  the  world  trial  by  jury,  habeas  corpus, 
parliamentary  representation,  the  rules  and  orders  of 
debate,  and  that  benign  principle  which  pronounces  that 
its  air  is  too  pure  for  a  slave  to  breathe,  —  perhaps  the 
five  most  important  political  establishments  of  modern 
times.  From  the  Continent  proceeded  the  important 
impulse  to  the  systematic  study,  arrangement,  and  de 
velopment  of  the  law,  —  also  the  example  of  Law  Schools 
and  of  Codes. 

Story  was  bred  in  the  Common  Law ;  but  while  ad 
miring  its  vital  principles  of  freedom,  he  felt  how  much 
it  would  gain  from  science,  and  from  other  systems  of 
jurisprudence.  In  his  later  labors  he  never  forgot  this 
object ;  and  under  his  hands  we  behold  the  development 
of  a  study  until  him  little  known  or  regarded,  —  the 
science  of  Comparative  Jurisprudence,  kindred  to  those 
other  departments  of  knowledge  which  exhibit  the  rela 
tions  of  the  human  family,  and  showing  that  amidst 
diversity  there  is  unity. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  271 

I  need  not  add  that  he  emulated  the  law  schools  of 
the  Continent,  —  as  "ever  witness  for  him"  this  seat 
of  learning. 

On  more  than  one  occasion,  he  urged,  with  conclusive 
force,  the  importance  of  reducing  the  unwritten  law  to 
the  certainty  of  a  code,  compiling  and  bringing  into 
one  body  fragments  now  scattered  in  all  directions, 
through  the  pages  of  many  thousand  volumes.1  His 
views  on  this  subject,  while  differing  from  those  of 
John  Locke  and  Jeremy  Bentham,  —  both  of  whom 
supposed  themselves  able  to  clothe  a  people  in  a  new 
code,  as  in  fresh  garments,  —  are  in  substantial  har 
mony  with  the  conclusions  now  adopted  by  the  jurists 
of  Continental  Europe,  and  not  unlike  those  of  an  ear 
lier  age  having  the  authority  of  Bacon  and  Leibnitz, 
the  two  greatest  intellects  ever  applied  to  topics  of 
jurisprudence  in  modern  times.2 

In  this  catholic  spirit  he  showed  true  eminence.  He 
loved  the  law  with  a  lover's  fondness,  but  not  with  a 
lover's  blindness.  He  could  not  join  with  those  devo 
tees  of  the  Common  Law  by  whom  it  is  entitled  "  the 
perfection  of  reason,"  —  an  anachronism  great  as  the 
assumed  infallibility  of  the  Pope :  as  if  perfection  or 
infallibility  existed  in  this  world  !  He  was  led,  in  be 
coming  temper,  to  contemplate  its  amendment ;  and 
here  is  revealed  the  Jurist,  —  not  content  with  the  pres 
ent,  but  thoughtful  of  the  future.  In  a  letter  pub 
lished  since  his  death,  he  refers  with  sorrow  to  "  what 

1  Encyclopaedia  Americana,  article  Law,  Legislation,  Codes,  Appendix  to 
Vol.  VII.  pp.  676  -  692.  Report  of  the  Commissioners  of  Massachusetts  on 
the  Codification  of  the  Common  Law.  American  Jurist,  Vol.  XVII.  p.  17. 

8  Bacon,  Offer  to  King  James  of  a  Digest  to  be  made  of  the  Laws  of  Eng 
land  :  Works,  Vol.  IT.  p.  548,  4to  ed.  Leibnitz,  Ratio  Corporis  Juris  recon- 
cinnandi ;  Epist  XV.,  ad  Kestnerum :  Opera,  Tom.  IV.  Pars  iii.  pp.  235, 269. 
VOL.  I.  8 


272  THE  SCUOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

is  but  too  common  in  our  profession,  —  a  disposition  to 
resist  innovation,  even  when  it  is  improvement."  It 
is  an  elevated  mind  that,  having  mastered  the  sub- 
tilties  of  the  law,  is  willing  to  reform  them. 

And  now  farewell  to  thee,  Jurist,  Master,  Benefactor, 
Friend  !  May  thy  spirit  continue  to  inspire  a  love  for 
the  science  of  the  law  !  May  thy  example  be  ever  fresh 
in  the  minds  of  the  young,  beaming,  as  in  life,  with  en 
couragement,  kindness,  and  joy ! 


From  the  grave  of  the  Jurist,  at  Mount  Auburn,  let 
us  walk  to  that  of  THE  ARTIST,  who  sleeps  beneath  the 
protecting  arms  of  those  trees  which  cast  their  shadow 
into  this  church.  WASHINGTON  ALLSTON  died  in  the 
month  of  July,  1843,  aged  sixty-three,  having  reached 
the  grand  climacteric,  that  famous  mile-stone  on  the 
road  of  life.  It  was  Saturday  night ;  the  cares  of  the 
week  were  over  ;  the  pencil  and  brush  were  laid  in  re 
pose  ;  the  great  canvas,  on  which  for  many  years  he 
had  sought  to  perpetuate  the  image  of  Daniel  confront 
ing  the  soothsayers  of  Belshazzar,  was  left,  with  fresh 
chalk  lines  designating  the  labor  to  be  resumed  after 
the  repose  of  the  Sabbath ;  the  evening  was  passed  in 
the  converse  of  family  and  friends ;  words  of  benedic 
tion  had  fallen  from  his  lips  upon  a  beloved  relative  ;  all 
had  retired  for  the  night,  leaving  him  alone,  in  health,  to 
receive  the  visitation  of  Death,  sudden,  but  not  unpre 
pared  for.  Happy  lot,  thus  to  be  borne  away  with 
blessings  on  the  lips,  —  not  through  the  long  valley  of 
disease,  amidst  the  sharpness  of  pain,  and  the  darkness 
that  clouds  the  slowly  departing  spirit,  but  straight  up 
ward,  through  realms  of  light,  swiftly,  yet  gently,  as  on 
the  wings  of  a  dove  I 


THE  ARTIST,   THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  273 

The  early  shades  of  evening  began  to  prevail  before 
the  body  of  the  Artist  reached  its  last  resting-place ; 
and  the  solemn  service  of  the  church  was  read  in  the 
open  air,  by  the  nickering  flame  of  a  torch,  —  fit  image 
of  life.  In  the  group  of  mourners  who  bore  a  last  trib 
ute  to  what  was  mortal  in  him  of  whom  so  much  was 
immortal  stood  our  Jurist.  Overflowing  with  tender 
ness  and  appreciation  of  merit  in  all  its  forms,  his  soul 
was  touched  by  the  scene.  In  vivid  words,  as  he  slowly 
left  the  church-yard,  he  poured  forth  his  admiration  and 
his  grief.  Never  was  such  an  Artist  mourned  by  such  a 
Jurist. 

Of  Allston  may  we  repeat  the  words  in  which  Burke 
commemorated  his  friend  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  when  he 
says,  "He  was  the  first  who  added  the  praise  of  the 
elegant  arts  to  the  other  glories  of  his  country." l  An 
ingenious  English  writer,  who  sees  Art  with  the  eye  of 
taste  and  humanity,  and  whom  I  quote  with  sympathy, 
if  not  with  entire  assent,  has  said,  in  a  recent  publica 
tion  on  our  Artist,  "It  seemed  to  me  that  in  him 
America  had  lost  her  third  great  man.  What  Washing 
ton  was  as  a  statesman,  Channing  as  a  moralist,  that  was 
Allston  as  an  artist."2 

Here  again  is  discerned  the  inseparable  union  between 
character  and  works.  Allston  was  a  good  man,  with  a 
soul  refined  by  purity,  exaltecl  by  religion,  softened  by 
love.  In  manner  he  was  simple,  yet  courtly,  —  quiet, 
though  anxious  to  please,  —  kindly  to  all  alike,  the  poor 
and  lowly  not  less  than  the  rich  and  great.  As  he 
spoke,  in  that  voice  of  gentlest  utterance,  all  were 

1  Prior,  Life  of  Burke,  Vol.  II.  p.  190. 

2  Mrs.  Jameson,  Memoirs  and  Essays:   WaAington  Allston,  p.  126.    (New 
York,  1846.) 

12*  R 


274  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

charmed  to  listen;  and  the  airy-footed  hours  often 
tripped  on  far  towards  the  gates  of  morning,  before  his 
friends  could  break  from  his  spell.  His  character  is 
transfigured  in  his  works.  The  Artist  is  always  in 
spired  by  the  man. 

His  life  was  consecrated  to  Art.  He  lived  to  diffuse 
Beauty,  as  writer,  poet,  painter.  As  an  expounder  of 
principles  in  his  art,  he  will  take  a  place  with  Leo 
nardo  da  Vinci,  Albert  Diirer,  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  and 
Fuseli.  His  theory  of  painting,  as  developed  in  his 
still  unpublished  discourses,  and  in  that  tale  of  beauty, 
"  Monaldi,"  is  an  instructive  memorial  of  conscientious 
study.  In  the  small  group  of  painter-poets  —  poets 
by  the  double  title  of  pencil  and  pen  —  he  holds  an 
honored  place.  His  ode  "America  to  Great  Britain," 
which  is  among  the  choice  lyrics  of  the  language,  is  su 
perior  to  the  satirical  verse  of  Salvator  Rosa,  and  may 
claim  companionship  with  the  remarkable  sonnets  of 
Michel  Angelo.  It  was  this  which  made  no  less  a  judge 
than  Southey  place  him  among  the  first  poets  of  the 
age. 

In  youth,  while  yet  a  pupil  at  the  University,  his 
busy  fingers  found  pleasure  in  drawing  ;  and  a  pen-and- 
ink  sketch  from  his  hand  at  that  time  is  still  preserved 
in  the  records  of  a  college  society.  Shortly  after  leav 
ing  Cambridge  he  repaired  to  Europe,  in  the  pursuit  of 
Art.  At  Paris  were  then  collected  the  masterpieces  of 
painting  and  sculpture,  the  spoils  of  unholy  war,  robbed 
from  their  native  galleries  and  churches  to  swell  the 
pomp  of  the  Imperial  capital  There  our  Artist  devoted 
his  days  to  diligent  study  of  his  profession,  particu 
larly  to  drawing,  so  important  to  accurate  art.  At  a 
later  day,  alluding  to  these  thorough  labors,  he  said  he 


THE  ARTIST,   THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  275 

"  worked  like  a  mechanic."  To  these,  perhaps,  may  be 
referred  his  singular  excellence  in  that  necessary,  but 
neglected  branch,  which  is  to  Art  what  grammar  is  to 
language.  Grammar  and  Design  are  treated  by  Aris 
totle  on  a  level 

Turning  his  back  upon  Paris  and  the  greatness  of  the 
Empire,  he  directed  his  steps  towards  Italy,  the  en 
chanted  ground  of  literature,  history,  and  art,  —  strown 
with  richest  memorials  of  the  Past,  —  filled  with  scenes 
memorable  in  the  Progress  of  Man,  —  teaching  by  the 
pages  of  philosophers  and  historians,  —  vocal  with  the 
melody  of  poets,  —  ringing  with  the  music  which  St. 
Cecilia  protects,  —  glowing  with  the  living  marble  and 
canvas,  —  beneath  a  sky  of  heavenly  purity  and 
brightness,  —  with  the  sunsets  which  Claude  has  paint 
ed,  —  parted  by  the  Apennines,  early  witnesses  of  the 
unrecorded  Etruscan  civilization,  —  surrounded  by  the 
snow-capped  Alps,  and  the  blue,  classic  waters  of  the 
Mediterranean  Sea.  The  deluge  of  war  submerging 
Europe  had  subsided  here,  and  our  Artist  took  up  his 
peaceful  abode  in  Eome,  the  modern  home  of  Art. 
Strange  vicissitude  of  condition  !  Eome,  sole  surviving 
city  of  Antiquity,  once  disdaining  all  that  could  be 
wrought  by  the  cunning  hand  of  sculpture,  — 

"  Excudent  alii  spirantia  mollius  sera, 
Credo  equidem:  vivos  ducent  de  marmore  vultus,"  — 

who  has  commanded  the  world  by  her  arms,  her  ju 
risprudence,  her  church,  —  now  sways  it  further  by 
her  arts.  Pilgrims  from  afar,  where  her  eagles,  her 
praetors,  her  interdicts  never  reached,  become  willing 
subjects  of  this  new  empire  ;  and  the  Vatican,  stored 
with  the  priceless  remains  of  Antiquity,  and  the  touch 
ing  creations  of  modern  art,  has  succeeded  to  the  Vati- 


276  THE   SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

can  whose  thunders  intermingled  with  the  strifes  of 
modern  Europe. 

At  Rome  he  was  happy  in  the  friendship  of  Cole 
ridge,  and  in  long  walks  cheered  by  his  companionship. 
"We  can  well  imagine  that  the  author  of  "  Genevieve " 
and  "  The  Ancient  Mariner  "  would  find  sympathy  with 
Allston.  It  is  easy  to  recall  these  two  natures,  trem 
blingly  alive  to  beauty  of  all  kinds,  looking  together 
upon  those  majestic  ruins,  upon  the  manifold  accumu 
lations  of  Time,  upon  the  marble  which  almost  speaks, 
and  upon  the  warmer  canvas,  —  listening  together  to 
the  flow  of  perpetual  fountains,  fed  by  ancient  aque 
ducts,  —  musing  together  in  the  Forum  on  the  mighty 
footprints  of  History,  —  and  entering  together,  with 
sympathetic  awe,  that  grand  Christian  church  whose 
dome  rises  a  majestic  symbol  of  the  comprehensive 
Christianity  which  is  the  promise  of  the  Future. 
"Never  judge  a  work  of  art  by  its  defects,"  was-  a 
lesson  of  Coleridge  to  his  companion,  which,  when 
extended,  by  natural  expansion,  to  the  other  things  of 
life,  is  a  sentiment  of  justice  and  charity,  more  precious 
than  a  statue  of  Praxiteles  or  a  picture  of  Raphael 

In  England,  where  our  Artist  afterwards  passed  sev 
eral  years,  his  intercourse  with  Coleridge  was  renewed, 
and  he  became  the  friend  and  companion  of  Lamb  and 
Wordsworth  also.  Returning  to  his  own  country,  he 
spoke  of  them  with  fondness,  and  often  dwelt  upon 
their  genius  and  virtue. 

In  considering  his  character  as  an  Artist,  we  may  re 
gard  him  in  three  different  respects,  —  drawing,  color, 
and  expression  or  sentiment.  It  has  already  been  seen 
that  he  devoted  himself  with  uncommon  zeal  to  draw 
ing.  His  works  bear  witness  to  this  excellence.  There 


THE   ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  277 

are  chalk  outlines  by  him,  sketched  on  canvas,  which 
are  clear  and  definite  as  anything  from  the  classic  touch 
of  Flaxman. 

His  excellence  in  color  was  remarkable.  This  seem 
ing  mystery,  which  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
artists  in  different  schools,  periods,  and  countries,  is  not 
unlike  that  of  language  in  literature.  Color  is  to  the 
painter  what  words  are  to  the  author ;  and  as  the  writers 
of  one  age  or  place  arrive  at  a  peculiar  mastery  in  lan 
guage,  so  do  artists  excel  in  color.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  account  satisfactorily  for  the  rich  idiom  suddenly  as 
sumed  by  our  English  tongue  in  the  contemporaneous 
prose  of  Sidney,  Hooker,  and  Bacon,  and  in  the  unap- 
proached  affluence  of  Shakespeare.  It  might  be  as 
difficult  to  account  for  the  unequalled  tints  which  shone 
on  the  canvas  of  Tintoretto,  Paul  Veronese,  and  Titian, 
masters  of  what  is  called  the  Venetian  School.  Igno 
rance  has  sometimes  referred  these  glories  to  concealed 
or  lost  artistic  rules  in  combinations  of  color,  not  think 
ing  that  they  can  be  traced  only  to  a  native  talent 
for  color,  prompted  into  activity  by  circumstances  diffi 
cult  at  this  late  period  to  determine.  As  some  possess 
a  peculiar,  untaught  felicity  and  copiousness  of  words 
without  accurate  knowledge  of  grammar,  so  there  are 
artists  excelling  in  rich  and  splendid  color,  but  ignorant 
of  drawing,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  accurate  drawing 
is  sometimes  coldly  clad  in  unsatisfactory  color. 

Allston  was  largely  endowed  by  Nature  with  the 
talent  for  color,  which  was  strongly  developed  under 
the  influence  of  Italian  art.  While  in  Rome,  he  was 
remarked  for  his  excellence  in  this  respect,  and  re 
ceived  from  German  painters  there  the  flattering  title  of 
"  American  Titian."  Critics  of  authority  have  said  that 


278  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

the  clearness  and  vigor  of  his  color  approached  that  of 
the  elder  masters.1  Rich  and  harmonious  as  the  verses 
of  the  "  Faury  Queen,"  it  was  uniformly  soft,  mellow,  and 
appropriate,  without  the  garish  brilliancy  of  the  modern 
French  School,  calling  to  mind  the  saying  of  the  blind 
man,  that  red  resembles  the  notes  of  a  trumpet. 

He  affected  no  secret  or  mystery  in  the  preparation 
of  colors.  What  he  knew  he  was  ready  to  impart :  his 
genius  he  could  not  impart.  With  simple  pigments,  ac 
cessible  to  all  alike,  he  reproduced,  with  glowing  brush, 
the  tints  of  Nature.  All  that  his  eyes  looked  upon  fur 
nished  a  lesson.  The  flowers  of  the  field,  the  foliage  of 
the  forest,  the  sunset  glories  of  our  western  horizon,  the 
transparent  azure  above,  the  blackness  of  the  storm,  the 
soft  gray  of  twilight,  the  haze  of  an  Indian  summer, 
the  human  countenance  animate  with  thought,  and  that 
finest  color  in  Nature,  according  to  the  ancient  Greek, 
the  blush  of  ingenuous  youth,  —  these  were  the  sources 
from  which  he  drew.  With  a  discerning  spirit  he 
mixed  them  on  his  palette,  and  with  the  eye  of  sym 
pathy  saw  them  again  on  his  canvas. 

But  richness  of  color  superadded  to  accuracy  of 
drawing  cannot  secure  the  highest  place  in  Art ;  and 
here  I  approach  a  more  harmonious  topic.  Expression, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  sentiment,  the  thought,  the  soul, 
which  inspires  the  work,  is  not  less  important  than  that 
which  animates  the  printed  page  or  beams  from  the 
human  countenance.  The  mere  imitation  of  inanimate 
Nature  belongs  to  the  humbler  schools  of  Art.  The 
skill  of  Zeuxis,  which  drew  birds  to  peck  at  the  grapes 
on  his  canvas,  and  the  triumph  of  Parrhasius,  who  de- 

1  Bniuen,  Beschrelbnng  der  Stadt  Rom,  Band  I.  p.  688.    Article  on 
Modern  Art,  by  K.  Plainer. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  279 

ceived  his  rival  by  a  painted  curtain,  cannot  compare 
with  those  pictures  which  seem  articulate  with  the 
voices  of  humanity.  The  highest  form  of  Art  is  that 
which  represents  man  in  the  highest  scenes  and  under 
the  influence  of  the  highest  sentiments.  And  that 
quality  or  characteristic  called  expression  is  the  highest 
element  of  Art.  It  is  this  which  gives  to  Eaphael, 
who  yields  to  Titian  in  color,  such  acknowledged  emi 
nence.  His  soul  was  brimming  with  sympathies,  which 
his  cunning  hand  kept  alive  in  immortal  pictures.  Eye, 
mouth,  countenance,  the  whole  composition,  has  life,  — 
not  the  life  of  mere  imitation,  copied  from  common 
Nature,  but  elevated,  softened,  refined,  idealized.  Be 
holding  his  works,  we  forget  the  colors  in  which  they 
are  robed ;  we  gaze  at  living  forms,  and  look  behind 
the  painted  screen  of  flesh  into  living  souls.  A  genius 
so  largely  endowed  with  the  Promethean  fire  has  been 
not  unaptly  called  Divine. 

It  was  said  by  Plato  that  nothing  is  beautiful  which 
is  not  morally  good.  But  this  is  not  a  faultless  propo 
sition.  Beauty  is  of  all  kinds  and  degrees ;  and  it  ex 
ists  everywhere  beneath  the  celestial  canopy,  in  us  and 
about  us.  It  is  that  completeness  or  finish  which 
gives  pleasure  to  the  mind.  It  is  found  in  the  color 
of  a  flower,  and  the  accuracy  of  geometry,  —  in  an 
act  of  self-sacrifice,  and  the  rhythm  of  a  poem,  — 
in  the  virtues  of  humanity,  and  the  marvels  of  the 
visible  world,  —  in  the  meditations  of  a  solitary  soul, 
and  the  stupendous  mechanism  of  civil  society.  There 
is  beauty  where  there  is  neither  life  nor  morality  ;  but 
the  highest  form  of  beauty  is  in  the  perfection  of  the 
moral  nature. 

The  highest  beauty  of  expression  is  a  grace  of  Chris- 


280  THE  SCHOLAK,  THE  JURIST, 

tian  art.  It  flows  from  sensibilities,  affections,  and 
struggles  peculiar  to  the  Christian  character.  It  breathes 
purity,  gentleness,  meekness,  patience,  tenderness,  peace. 
It  abhors  pride,  vain-glory,  selfishness,  intemperance, 
lust,  war.  How  celestial,  compared  with  that  which 
dwells  in  perfection  of  form  or  color  only !  The  beauty 
of  ancient  art  found  congenial  expression  in  the  fault 
less  form  of  Aphrodite  rising  from  the  sea,1  and  in 
the  majestic  mien  of  Juno,  with  snow-white  arms, 
and  royal  robes,  seated  on  a  throne  of  gold,2  —  not 
in  the  soul-lit  countenance  of  her  who  watched  the  in 
fant  in  his  manger-cradle,  and  throbbed  with  a  mother's 
heart  beneath  the  agonies  of  the  cross. 

Allston  was  a  Christian  artist ;  and  the  beauty  of 
expression  lends  uncommon  charm  to  his  colors.  All 
that  he  did  shows  purity,  sensibility,  refinement,  deli 
cacy,  feeling,  rather  than  force.  His  genius  was  al 
most  feminine.  As  he  advanced  in  years,  this  was  more 
remarked.  His  pictures  became  more  and  more  instinct 
with  those  sentiments  which  form  the  true  glory  of  Art. 
Early  in  life  he  had  a  partiality  for  pieces  representing 
banditti;  but  this  taste  does  not  appear  in  his  later 
works.  And  when  asked  if  he  would  undertake  to  fill 
the  vacant  panels  in  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at 
Washington,  should  Congress  determine  to  order  such 
a  work,  he  is  reported  to  have  said,  in  memorable 
words,  "  I  will  paint  only  one  subject,  and  choose  my 
own  :  No  battle-piece  !  "  B  This  incident,  so  honorable  to 
the  Artist,  is  questioned ;  but  it  is  certain  that  on 
more  than  one  occasion  he  avowed  a  disinclination  to 

l  Ovid,  Tristia,  Lib.  II.  627. 
»  Martial,  Epig..  Lib.  X.  89. 

•  Dunlap's  History  of  the  Arts  of  Design,  Vol.  II.  p.  188.    Mrs.  Jameson's 
Memoirs  and  Essays:  Wathington  Albion,  p.  114. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  281 

paint  battle-pieces.  I  am  not  aware  if  he  assigned  any 
reason.  Is  it  too  much  to  suppose  that  his  refined 
artistic  sense,  recognizing  expression  as  the  highest 
beauty  of  Art,  unconsciously  judged  the  picture  ?  The 
ancient  Greek  epigram,  describing  the  Philoctetes  of 
Parrhasius,  an  image  of  hopeless  wretchedness  and  con 
suming  grief,  rises  to  a  like  sentiment,  when  it  says, 
with  mild  rebuke,  — 

"We  blame  thee,  painter,  though  thy  skill  commend; 
'T  was  time  his  sufferings  with  himself  should  end." 1 

In  another  tone,  and  with  cold  indifference  to  human 
suffering,  Lucretius  sings,  in  often-quoted  verse,  that 
it  is  pleasant,  when  beyond  the  reach  of  danger,  to  be 
hold  the  shock  of  contending  armies  :  — 

"  Suave  etiam  belli  certamina  magna  tueri."2 

In  like  heathen  spirit,  it  may  be  pleasant  to  behold 
a  battle-piece  in  Art.  But  this  is  wrong.  Admitting 
the  calamitous  necessity  of  war,  it  can  never  be  with 
pleasure  —  it  cannot  be  without  sadness  unspeakable  — 
that  we  survey  its  fiendish  encounter.  The  artist  of 
purest  aim,  sensitive  to  these  emotions,  withdraws 
naturally  from  the  field  of  blood,  confessing  that  no 
scene  of  battle  finds  a  place  in  the  highest  Art,  —  that 
man,  created  in  the  image  of  God,  can  never  be  pic 
tured  degrading,  profaning,  violating  that  sacred  image. 
Were  this  sentiment  adopted  in  literature  as  in  Art, 
war  would  be  shorn  of  its  false  glory.  Poet,  historian, 
orator,  all  should  join  with  the  Artist  in  saying,  No 
battle-piece  I  Let  them  cease  to  dwell,  except  with 
pain  and  reprobation,  upon  those  dismal  exhibitions  of 

l  Anthol.  Lib.  IV.  Tit  viii.  Ep.  26. 

*  Lucretius,  De  Rerum  Natura,  Lib.  II.  8. 


282          THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

human  passion  where  the  life  of  friends  is  devoted  to 
procure  the  death  of  enemies.  No  pen,  no  tongue,  no 
pencil,  by  praise  or  picture,  can  dignify  scenes  from 
which  God  averts  His  eye.  It  is  true,  man  has  slain 
his  fellow-man,  armies  have  rushed  in  deadly  shock 
against  armies,  the  blood  of  brothers  has  been  spilled. 
These  are  tragedies  which  History  enters  sorrowfully, 
tearfully,  in  her  faithful  record ;  but  this  generous  Muse 
with  too  attractive  colors  must  not  perpetuate  the  pas 
sions  from  which  they  sprang  or  the  griefs  they  caused. 
Be  it  her  duty  to  dwell  with  eulogy  and  pride  on  all 
that  is  magnanimous,  lovely,  beneficent ;  let  this  be 
preserved  by  votive  canvas  and  marble  also.  But  No 
battle-piece  ! 

In  the  progress  of  truth,  the  animal  passions  degrad 
ing  our  nature  are  by  degrees  checked  and  subdued. 
The  license  of  lust  and  the  brutality  of  intemperance, 
marking  a  civilization  inferior  to  our  own,  are  at  last 
driven  from  public  display.  Faitliful  Art  reflects  the 
character  of  the  age.  To  its  honor,  libertinism  and  in 
temperance  no  longer  intrude  their  obscene  faces  into 
its  pictures.  The  time  is  at  hand  when  religion,  hu 
manity,  and  taste  will  concur  in  rejecting  any  image 
of  human  strife.  Lais  and  Phryne  have  fled ;  Bacchus 
and  Silenus  are  driven  reeling  from  the  scene.  Mars 
will  soon  follow,  howling,  as  with  that  wound  from  the 
Grecian  spear  before  Troy.  The  Hall  of  Battles,  at 
Versailles,  where  Louis  Philippe,  the  inconsistent  con 
servator  of  peace,  has  arrayed,  on  acres  of  canvas,  the 
bloody  contests  in  the  long  history  of  France,  will  be 
shut  by  a  generation  appreciating  true  greatness. 

In  the  mission  of  teaching  to  nations  and  to  individ 
uals  wherein  is  true  greatness,  Art  has  a  noble  office. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  283 

If  not  herald,  she  is  at  least  handmaid  of  Truth.  Her 
lessons  may  not  train  the  intellect,  but  they  cannot 
fail  to  touch  the  heart.  Who  can  measure  the  influence 
from  an  image  of  beauty,  affection,  and  truth  ?  The 
Christus  Consolator  of  Scheffer,  without  a  word,  wins 
the  soul.  Such  a  work  awakens  lasting  homage  to  the 
artist,  and  to  the  spirit  from  which  it  proceeds,  while  it 
takes  its  place  with  tilings  that  never  die.  Other  works, 
springing  from  the  lower  passions,  are  no  better  than 
gaudy,  perishing  flowers  of  earth ;  but  here  is  peren 
nial,  amaranthine  bloom. 

Allston  loved  excellence  for  its  own  sake.  He  looked 
down  upon  the  common  strife  for  worldly  consideration. 
With  impressive  beauty  of  truth  and  expression,  he 
said,  "  Fame  is  the  eternal  shadow  of  excellence,  from 
which  it  can  never  be  separated." 1  Here  is  a  vol 
ume,  prompting  to  noble  thought  and  action,  not  for 
the  sake  of  glory,  but  for  advance  in  knowledge,  vir 
tue,  excellence.  Our  Artist  gives  renewed  utterance  to 
that  sentiment  which  is  the  highest  grace  in  the  life 
of  the  great  magistrate,  Lord  Mansfield,  when,  confess 
ing  the  attractions  of  "  popularity,"  he  said  it  was  that 
which  followed,  not  which  was  followed  after. 

As  we  contemplate  the  life  and  works  of  Allston,  we 
are  inexpressibly  grateful  that  he  lived.  His  example 
is  one  of  our  best  possessions.  And  yet,  while  rejoicing 
that  he  has  done  much,  we  seem  to  hear  a  whisper  that 
he  might  have  done  more.  His  productions  suggest  a 
higher  genius  than  they  display ;  and  we  are  disposed 
sometimes  to  praise  the  master  rather  than  the  work. 
Like  a  beloved  character  in  English  literature,  Sir  James 
Mackintosh,  he  finally  closed  a  career  of  beautiful,  but 

1  Mrs.  Jameson,  Memoirs  and  Essays  :   Waihington  Allslon,  p.  118. 


284  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

fragmentary  labors,  leaving  much  undone  which  all  had 
hoped  he  would  do.  The  great  painting  which  haunted 
so  many  years  of  his  life,  and  which  his  friends 
and  country  awaited  with  anxious  interest,  remained 
unfinished  at  last.  His  Virgilian  sensibility  and  mod 
esty  would  doubtless  have  ordered  its  destruction,  had 
death  arrested  him  less  suddenly.  Titian  died,  leaving 
incomplete,  like  Allston,  an  important  picture,  on  which 
his  hand  was  busy  down  to  the  time  of  his  death.  A 
pious  and  distinguished  pupil,  the  younger  Palma,  took 
up  the  labor  of  his  master,  and,  on  its  completion, 
placed  it  in  the  church  for  which  it  was  destined,  with 
this  inscription:  "That  which  Titian  left  unfinished 
Palma  reverently  completed,  and  dedicated  to  God." 
Where  is  the  Palma  who  can  complete  what  our  Titian 
has  left  unfinished  ? 


Let  us  now  devoutly  approach  the  grave  of  the 
brother  whom,  in  order  of  time,  we  were  first  called  to 
mourn.  WILLIAM  ELLERY  CHANNING,  THE  PHILANTHRO 
PIST,  died  in  the  month  of  October,  1842,  aged  sixty- 
two.  By  an  easy  transition  we  pass  from  Allston  to 
Channing.  They  were  friends  and  connections.  The 
monumental  stone  which  marks  the  last  resting-place 
of  the  Philanthropist  was  designed  by  the  Artist.  In 
physical  organization  they  were  not  unlike,  each  pos 
sessing  a  fineness  of  fibre  hardly  belonging  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  stock.  In  both  we  observe  similar  sen 
sibility,  delicacy,  refinement,  and  truth,  with  highest 
aims ;  and  the  color  of  Allston  finds  a  parallel  in  the 
Venetian  richness  which  marks  the  style  of  Chan 
ning. 


THE   ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  285 

I  do  not  speak  of  him  as  Theologian,  although  his 
labors  have  earned  this  title  also.  It  is  probable  that 
no  single  mind,  in  our  age,  has  exerted  a  greater  in 
fluence  over  theological  opinions.  But  I  pass  all  this 
by,  without  presuming  to  indicate  its  character.  Far 
better  dwell  on  those  labors  which  should  not  fail  to 
find  favor  in  all  churches,  whether  at  Eome,  Geneva, 
Canterbury,  or  Boston. 

His  influence  is  widely  felt  and  acknowledged.  His 
words  have  been  heard  and  read  by  thousands,  in  all 
conditions  of  life,  and  in  various  lands,  whose  hearts 
now  throb  with  gratitude  towards  the  meek  and  elo 
quent  upholder  of  divine  truth.  An  American  travel 
ler,  at  a  small  village  nestling  on  a  terrace  of  the 
Tyrolese  Alps,  encountered  a  German,  who,  hearing 
that  his  companion  was  from  Boston,  inquired  earnestly 
after  Channing,  —  saying  that  the  difficulty  of  learning 
the  English  language  was  adequately  repaid  by  the 
charm  of  his  writings.  A  distinguished  stranger,  when 
about  to  visit  our  country,  was  told  by  a  relative  not 
less  lovely  in  character  than  elevated  in  condition,  that 
she  envied  him  his  journey  "  for  the  sake  of  Niagara 
and  Channing."  We  have  already  observed  that  a 
critic  of  Art  places  him  in  an  American  triumvirate 
with  Allston  and  Washington.  More  frequently  he  is 
associated  with  Washington  and  Franklin.  Unlike 
Washington,  he  was  never  general  or  president ;  unlike 
Franklin,  he  never  held  high  office.  But  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say  that  since  them  any  American  has 
exerted  greater  sway  over  his  fellow-men.  And  yet, 
if  it  be  asked  what  single  measure  he  carried  to  a  suc 
cessful  close,  I  could  not  answer.  It  is  on  character 
that  he  has  wrought  and  is  still  producing  incalculable 


286  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

change.  So  extensive  is  this  influence,  that  multitudes 
now  feel  it,  although  strangers  to  his  spoken  or  even 
his  written  word.  The  whole  country  and  age  feel  it. 

I  have  called  him  Philanthropist,  lover  of  man,  —  the 
title  of  highest  honor  on  earth.  "  I  take  goodness  in 
this  sense,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  in  his  Essays,  "  the  affect 
ing  of  the  weal  of  men,  which  is  that  the  Grecians  call 

PhUanthropia This  of  all  virtues  and  dignities 

of  the  mind  is  the  greatest,  being  the  character  of  the 
Deity ;  and  without  it  man  is  a  busy,  mischievous, 
wretched  thing,  no  better  than  a  kind  of  vermin."  Lord 
Bacon  was  right.  Confessing  the  attractions  of  scholar 
ship,  awed  by  the  majesty  of  the  law,  fascinated  by  the 
beauty  of  Art,  the  soul  bends  with  involuntary  rever 
ence  before  the  angelic  nature  that  seeks  the  good  of 
his  fellow-man.  Through  him  God  speaks.  On  him 
has  descended  in  especial  measure  the  Divine  Spirit. 
God  is  Love ;  and  man,  when  most  active  in  good 
works,  most  nearly  resembles  Him.  In  heaven,  we  are 
told,  the  first  place  or  degree  is  given  to  the  angels  of 
love,  who  are  termed  Seraphim,  —  the  second  to  the 
angels  of  light,  who  are  termed  Cherubim. 

Sorrowfully  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  time  has 
not  come  when  even  his  exalted  labors  find  equal  ac 
ceptance  with  all  men.  And  now,  as  I  undertake  to 
speak  of  them  in  this  presence,  I  seem  to  tread  on  half- 
buried  cinders.  I  shall  tread  fearlessly,  loyal  ever,  I 
hope,  to  the  occasion,  to  my  subject,  and  to  myself.  In 
the  language  of  my  own  profession,  I  shall  not  travel 
out  of  the  record ;  but  I  must  be  true  to  the  record. 
It  is  fit  that  his  name  should  be  commemorated  here. 
He  was  one  of  us.  He  was  a  son  of  the  University, 
enrolled  also  among  its  teachers,  and  for  many  years  a 


THE   ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  287 

Fellow  of  the  Corporation.  To  him,  more,  perhaps, 
than  to  any  other  person,  is  she  indebted  for  her  most 
distinctive  opinions.  His  fame  is  indissolubly  con 
nected  with  hers  :  — 

"  And  when  thy  ruins  shall  disclaim 
To  be  the  treasurer  of  his  name, 
His  name,  that  cannot  die,  shall  be 
An  everlasting  monument  to  thee."  * 

I  have  called  him  Philanthropist :  he  may  also  be 
called  Moralist,  for  he  was  the  expounder  of  human 
duties  ;  but  his  exposition  of  duties  was  another  service 
to  humanity.  His  morality,  elevated  by  Christian  love, 
fortified  by  Christian  righteousness,  was  frankly  ap 
plied  to  the  people  and  affairs  of  his  own  country  and 
age.  He  saw  full  well,  that,  in  contest  with  wrong, 
more  was  needed  than  a  declaration  of  simple  prin 
ciples.  A  general  morality  is  too  vague  for  action. 
Tamerlane  and  Napoleon  both  might  join  in  general 
praise  of  peace,  and  entitle  themselves  to  be  enrolled, 
with  Alexander  of  Kussia,  as  members  of  a  Peace  So 
ciety.  Many  satisfy  the  conscience  by  such  generalities. 
This  was  not  the  case  with  our  Philanthropist.  He 
brought  his  morality  to  bear  distinctly  upon  the  world. 
Nor  was  he  disturbed  by  another  suggestion,  which  the 
moralist  often  encounters,  that  his  views  were  sound  in 
theory,  but  not  practical.  He  well  knew  that  what  is 
unsound  in  theory  must  be  vicious  in  practice.  Un 
disturbed  by  hostile  criticism,  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
arraign  the  wrong  he  discerned,  and  fasten  upon  it 
the  mark  of  Cain.  His  philanthropy  was  morality  in 
action. 

As  a  moralist,  he  knew  that  the  truest  happiness 

1  Ben  Jonson's  inscription  for  the  "  pious  marble  "  in  honor  of  Drayton. 


288  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

is  reached  only  by  following  the  Right ;  and  as  a  lover 
of  man,  he  sought  on  all  occasions  to  inculcate  this 
supreme  duty,  which  he  addressed  to  nations  and  indi 
viduals  alike.  In  this  attempt  to  open  the  gates  of  a 
new  civilization,  he  encountered  prejudice  and  error. 
The  principles  of  morality,  first  possessing  the  individ 
ual,  slowly  pervade  the  body  politic ;  and  we  are  often 
told,  in  extenuation  of  war  and  conquest,  that  the  nation 
and  the  individual  are  governed  by  separate  laws, — 
that  the  nation  may  do  what  an  individual  may  not  do. 
In  combating  this  pernicious  fallacy,  Channing  was  a 
benefactor.  He  helped  to  bring  government  within 
the  Christian  circle,  and  taught  the  statesman  that 
there  is  one  comprehensive  rule,  binding  on  the  con 
science  in  public  affairs,  as  in  private  affairs.  This  truth 
cannot  be  too  often  proclaimed.  Pulpit,  press,  school, 
college,  all  should  render  it  familiar  to  the  ear,  and  pour 
it  into  the  soul.  Beneficent  Nature  joins  with  the  mor 
alist  in  declaring  the  universality  of  God's  law;  the 
flowers  of  the  field,  the  rays  of  the  sun,  the  morning 
and  evening  dews,  the  descending  showers,  the  waves  of 
the  sea,  the  breezes  that  fan  our  cheeks  and  bear  rich 
argosies  from  shore  to  shore,  the  careering  storm,  all  on 
this  earth,  —  nay,  more,  the  system  of  which  this  earth 
is  a  part,  and  the  infinitude  of  the  Universe,  in  which 
our  system  dwindles  to  a  grain  of  sand,  all  declare  one 
prevailing  law,  knowing  no  distinction  of  person,  num 
ber,  mass,  or  extent. 

"While  Channing  commended  this  truth,  he  fervently 
recognized  the  Rights  of  Man.  He  saw  in  our  institu 
tions,  as  established  in  1776,  the  animating  idea  of  Hu 
man  Rights,  distinguishing  us  from  other  countries.  It 
was  this  idea,  which,  first  appearing  at  our  nativity  as  a 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  289 

nation,  shone  on  the  path  of  our  fathers,  as  the  unac 
customed  star  in  the  west  which  twinkled  over  Bethle 
hem. 

Kindred  to  the  idea  of  Human  Rights  was  that  other, 
which  appears  so  often  in  his  writings  as  to  inspire  his 
whole  philanthropy,  the  importance  of  the  Individual 
Man.  No  human  soul  so  abject  in  condition  as  not 
to  find  sympathy  and  reverence  from  him.  He  con 
fessed  brotherhood  with  all  God's  children,  although 
separated  from  them  by  rivers,  mountains,  and  seas,  — 
although  a  ton-id  sun  had  left  upon  them  an  unchange 
able  Ethiopian  skin.  Filled  with  this  thought,  he  was 
untiring  in  effort  to  promote  their  elevation  and  happi 
ness.  He  yearned  to  do  good,  to  be  a  spring  of  life  and 
light  to  his  fellow-men.  "  I  see  nothing  worth  living 
for,"  he  said,  "  but  the  divine  virtue  which  endures  and 
surrenders  all  things  for  truth,  duty,  and  mankind."  In 
this  spirit,  so  long  as  he  lived,  he  was  the  constant 
champion  of  Humanity. 

In  the  cause  of  education  and  of  temperance  he  was 
earnest.  He  saw  how  essential  to  a  people  govern 
ing  themselves  was  knowledge,  —  that  without  it  the 
right  of  voting  would  be  a  dangerous  privilege,  and  that 
with  it  the  nation  would  be  elevated  with  new  means 
of  happiness  and  power.  His  vivid  imagination  saw 
the  blight  of  intemperance,  and  exposed  it  in  glowing 
colors.  In  these  efforts  he  was  sustained  by  the  kindly 
sympathy  of  those  among  whom  he  lived. 

There  were  two  other  causes  in  which,  more  than 
any  other,  his  soul  was  enlisted,  especially  toward  the 
close  of  life,  and  with  which  his  name  will  be  in 
separably  associated,  —  I  mean  the  efforts  for  the  abo 
lition  of  those  two  terrible  scourges,  Slavery  and  War. 

VOL.    I.  13  8 


290  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

All  will  see  that  I  cannot  pass  these  by  on  this  occa 
sion  ;  for  not  to  speak  of  them  would  be  to  present  a 
portrait  in  which  the  most  distinctive  features  w«n 
wanting. 

And,  first,  as  to  Slavery.  To  this  his  attention  was 
particularly  drawn  by  early  residence  in  Virginia,  and  a 
season  subsequently  in  one  of  the  West  India  Islands. 
His  soul  was  moved  by  its  injustice  and  inhumanity. 
He  saw  in  it  an  infraction  of  God's  great  laws  of  Kight 
and  Love,  and  of  the  Christian  precept,  "  Whatsoever 
ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to 
them."  Regarding  it  contrary  to  the  law  of  Nature,  the 
Philanthropist  unconsciously  adopted  the  conclusions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  speaking  by 
the  mouth  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,1  and  of  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  at  a  later  day,  speaking 
by  the  mouth  of  Chief  Justice  Shaw.  A  solemn  decis 
ion,  now  belonging  to  the  jurisprudence  of  this  Com 
monwealth,  declares  that  "  slavery  is  contrary  to  natu 
ral  right,  to  the  principles  of  justice,  humanity,  and 
sound  policy."  2 

With  these  convictions,  his  duty  as  Moralist  and  Phi 
lanthropist  did  not  admit  of  question.  He  saw  before 
him  a  giant  wrong.  Almost  alone  he  went  forth  to  the 
contest.  On  his  return  from  the  West  Indies,  he  first 
declared  himself  from  the  pulpit.  At  a  later  day,  he 
published  a  book  entitled  "  Slavery,"  the  most  consider 
able  treatise  from  his  pen.  His  object,  as  he  testifies, 
was  "to  oppose  slavery  on  principles  which,  if  ad 
mitted,  would  inspire  resistance  to  all  the  wrongs  and 
reverence  for  all  the  rights  of  human  nature."  8  Other 

1  The  Antelope,  10  Wheaton's  Rep.  211. 
*  Commonwealth  v.  Aves,  18  Pick.  211. 
«  Letter  to  Blanco  White,  July  29, 1880:  Life  of  White,  Vol.  II.  p.  261. 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  291 

publications  followed  down  to  the  close  of  his  life, 
among  which  was  a  prophetic  letter,  addressed  to 
Henry  Clay,  against  the  annexation  of  Texas,  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  entail  war  with  Mexico  and  the 
extension  of  slavery.  It  is  interesting  to  know  that 
this  letter,  before  its  publicationKwas  read  to  his  class 
mate  Story,  who  listened  to  it  with  admiration  and 
assent ;  so  that  the  Jurist  and  the  Philanthropist  joined 
in  this  cause. 

In  his  defence  of  African  liberty  he  invoked  always 
the  unanswerable  considerations  of  justice  and  human 
ity.  The  argument  of  economy,  deemed  by  some  to 
contain  all  that  is  pertinent,  never  presented  itself  to 
him.  The  question  of  profit  and  loss  was  absorbed  in 
the  question  of  right  and  wrong.  His  maxim  was, — 
Anything  but  slavery;  poverty  sooner  than  slavery. 
But  while  exhibiting  this  institution  in  blackest  colors, 
as  inhuman,  unjust,  unchristian,  unworthy  of  an  en 
lightened  age  and  of  a  republic  professing  freedom,  his 
gentle  nature  found  no  word  of  harshness  for  those 
whom  birth,  education,  and  custom  bred  to  its  support. 
Implacable  towards  wrong,  he  used  mild  words  to 
wards  wrong-doers.  He  looked  forward  to  the  day  when 
they  too,  encompassed  by  a  moral  blockade,  invisible  to 
the  eye,  but  more  potent  than  navies,  and  under  the 
influence  of  increasing  light,  diffused  from  all  the  na 
tions,  must  acknowledge  the  wrong,  and  set  the  captive 
free. 

He  urged  the  ditty  —  such  was  his  unequivocal 
language  —  incumbent  on  the  Northern  States  to  free 
themselves  from  all  support  of  slavery.  To  this  con 
clusion  he  was  driven  irresistibly  by  the  ethical  princi 
ple,  that  what  is  wrong  for  the  individual  is  wrong  for 


292  THE   SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

the  state.  No  son  of  the  Pilgrims  can  hold  a  fellow- 
man  in  bondage.  Conscience  forbids.  No  son  of  the 
Pilgrims  can,  through  Government,  hold  a  fellow- 
man  in  bondage.  Conscience  equally  forbids.  We 
have  among  us  to-day  a  brother  who,  reducing  to  prac 
tice  the  teachings  of  Channing  and  the  suggestions  of 
his  own  soul,  has  liberated  the  slaves  which  fell  to 
him  by  inheritance.  Our  homage  to  this  act  attests 
the  obligation  upon  ourselves.  In  asking  the  Free 
States  to  disconnect  themselves  from  all  support  of 
slavery,  Channing  called  them  to  do  as  States  what 
PALFREY  has  done  as  man.  At  the  same  time  he 
dwelt  with  affectionate  care  upon  the  Union.  He 
sought  to  reform,  not  to  destroy,  —  to  eradicate,  not  to 
overturn;  and  he  cherished  the  Union  as  mother  of 
peace,  plenteousness,  and  joy. 

Such  were  some  of  his  labors  for  liberty.  The  mind 
instinctively  recalls  the  parallel  exertions  of  John  Mil 
ton.  He,  too,  was  a  defender  of  liberty.  His  "  Defence 
of  the  People  of  England  "  drew  to  him,  living,  a  larger 
fame  than  his  sublime  epic.  But  Channing's  labors 
were  of  a  higher  order,  more  instinct  with  Christian 
sentiment,  more  truly  worthy  of  renown.  Milton's 
Defensio  pro  Populo  Anglicano  was  for  the  political 
freedom  of  the  English  people,  supposed  at  that  time 
to  number  four  and  a  half  millions.  It  was  writ 
ten  after  the  "  bawble  "  of  royalty  had  been  removed, 
and  in  the  confidence  that  the  good  cause  was  tri 
umphantly  established,  beneath  the  protecting  genius 
of  CromwelL  Channing's  Defensio  pro  Populo  Afri- 
carto  was  for  the  personal  freedom  of  three  million 
fellow-men  in  abject  bondage,  none  of  whom  knew 
that  his  eloquent  pen  was  pleading  their  cause.  The 


THE  ARTIST,  THE  PHILANTHROPIST.  293 

efforts  of  Milton  produced  his  blindness ;  those  of 
Channing  exposed  him  to  obloquy  and  calumny.  How 
justly  might  the  Philanthropist  have  borrowed  the 
exalted  words  of  the  Sonnet  to  Cyriac  Skinner !  — 

"  What  supports  me,  dost  thou  ask  ? 
The  conscience,  friend,  to  have  lost  them  overplied 
In  liberty's  defence,  my  noble  task. 
Of  which  att  Europe  rings  from  tide  to  side." 

The  same  spirit  of  justice  and  humanity  animating 
him  in  defence  of  liberty  inspired  his  exertions  for 
the  abolition  of  the  barbarous  custom  or  institution 
of  War.  "When  I  call  war  an  institution,  I  mean  inter 
national  war,  sanctioned,  explained,  and  defined  by  the 
Law  of  Nations,  as  a  mode  of  determining  questions 
of  right.  I  mean  war,  the  arbiter  and  umpire,  the 
Ordeal  by  Battle,  deliberately  continued  in  an  age  of 
civilization,  as  the  means  of  justice  between  nations. 
Slavery  is  an  institution  sustained  by  municipal  law. 
War  is  an  institution  sustained  by  the  Law  of  Nations. 
Both  are  relics  of  the  early  ages,  and  are  rooted  in 
violence  and  wrong. 

The  principle,  already  considered,  that  nations  and 
individuals  are  bound  by  one  and  the  same  rule,  applies 
here  with  unmistakable  force.  The  Trial  by  Battle,  to 
which  individuals  once  appealed  for  justice,  is  branded 
by  our  civilization  as  monstrous  and  impious  ;  nor  can 
we  recognize  honor  in  the  successful  combatant.  Chris 
tianity  turns  from  these  scenes,  as  abhorrent  to  her  best 
injunctions.  And  is  it  right  in  nations  to  prolong  a 
usage,  monstrous  and  impious  in  individuals  ?  There 
can  be  but  one  answer. 

This  definition  leaves  undisturbed  that  question  of 
Christian  ethics,  whether  the  right  of  self-defence  is 


294  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

consistent  with  the  example  and  teaching  of  Christ. 
Channing  thought  it  was.  It  is  sufficient  that  war, 
when  regarded  as  a  judicial  combat,  sanctioned  by  the 
Law  of  Nations  as  an  institution  to  determine  justice, 
raises  no  such  question,  involves  no  such  right.  When, 
in  our  age,  two  nations,  parties  to  existing  interna 
tional  law,  after  mutual  preparations,  continued  perhaps 
through  years,  appeal  to  war  and  invoke  the  God  of 
Battles,  they  voluntarily  adopt  this  unchristian  urnpir- 
age ;  nor  can  either  side  plead  that  overruling  necessity 
on  which  alone  the  right  of  self-defence  is  founded. 
They  are  governed  at  every  step  by  the  Laws  of  War. 
But  self-defence  is  independent  of  law;  it  knows  no 
la\v,  but  springs  from  sudden  tempestuous  urgency, 
which  brooks  neither  circumscription  nor  delay.  De 
fine  it,  give  it  laws,  circumscribe  it  by  a  code,  invest 
it  with  form,  refine  it  by  punctilio,  and  it  becomes 
tJie  Duel.  And  modern  war,  with  its  definitions,  laws, 
limitations,  forms,  and  refinements,  is  the  Duel  of 
Nations, 

These  nations  are  communities  of  Christian  brothers. 
War  is,  therefore,  a  duel  between  brothers ;  and  here  its 
impiety  finds  apt  illustration  in  the  past.  Far  away 
in  the  early  period  of  time,  where  uncertain  hues  of 
Poetry  blend  with  the  clearer  light  of  History,  our  eyes 
discern  the  fatal  contest  between  those  two  brothers, 
Eteocles  and  Polynices.  No  scene  stirs  deeper  aver 
sion  ;  we  do  not  inquire  which  was  right.  The  soul 
cries  out,  in  bitterness  and  sorrow,  Both  were  wrong, 
and  refuses  to  discriminate  between  them.  A  just 
and  enlightened  opinion,  contemplating  the  feuds  and 
wars  of  mankind,  will  condemn  both  sides  as  wrong, 
pronouncing  all  war  fratricidal,  and  every  battle-field 


THE  ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  295 

a  scene  from  which  to  avert  the  countenance,  as  from 
that  dismal  duel  beneath  the  walls  of  Grecian  Thebes. 

To  hasten  this  judgment  our  Philanthropist  labored. 
"Follow  my  white  plume,"  said  the  chivalrous  mon 
arch  of  France.  "  Follow  the  Eight,"  more  resplendent 
than  plume  or  oriflamme,  was  the  watchword  of  Chan- 
ning.  With  a  soul  kindling  intensely  at  every  story  of 
magnanimous  virtue,  at  every  deed  of  self-sacrifice  in  a 
righteous  cause,  his  clear  Christian  judgment  saw  the 
mockery  of  what  is  called  military  glory,  whether  in 
ancient  thunderbolts  of  war  or  in  the  career  of  mod 
ern  conquest.  He  saw  that  the  fairest  flowers  can 
not  bloom  in  soil  moistened  by  human  blood,  —  that  to 
overcome  evil  by  bullets  and  bayonets  is  less  great  and 
glorious  than  to  overcome  it  by  good,  —  that  the  cour 
age  of  the  camp  is  inferior  to  this  Christian  fortitude 
found  in  patience,  resignation,  and  forgiveness  of  evil, 
as  the  spirit  which  scourged  and  crucified  the  Saviour 
was  less  divine  than  that  which  murmured,  "  Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

With  fearless  pen  he  arraigned  that  giant  criminal, 
Napoleon  Bonaparte.  Witnesses  flocked  from  all  his 
scenes  of  blood ;  and  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  coast 
of  Palestine,  the  plains  of  Italy,  the  snows  of  Eussia, 
the  fields  of  Austria,  Prussia,  Spain,  all  Europe,  sent 
forth  uncoffined  hosts  to  bear  testimony  against  the  glory 
of  their  cjiief.  Never  before,  in  the  name  of  humanity 
and  freedom,  was  grand  offender  arraigned  by  such  a 
voice.  The  sentence  of  degradation  which  Channing 
has  passed,  confirmed  by  coming  generations,  will  darken 
the  name  of  the  warrior  more  than  any  defeat  of  his 
arms  or  compelled  abdication  of  his  power. 

These  causes  Channing  upheld  and  commended  with 


296  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

admirable  eloquence,  both  of  tongue  and  pen.  Though 
abounding  in  beauty  of  thought  and  expression,  he  will 
be  judged  less  by  single  passages,  sentences,  or  phrases, 
than  by  the  continuous  and  harmonious  treatment  of  his 
subject.  And  yet  everywhere  the  same  spirit  is  dis 
cerned.  What  he  said  was  an  effluence  rather  than 
a  composition.  His  style  was  not  formal  or  archi 
tectural  in  shape  or  proportion,  but  natural  and  flow 
ing.  Others  seem  to  construct,  to  build;  he  bears  us 
forward  on  an  unbroken  stream.  If  we  seek  a  paral 
lel  for  him  as  writer,  we  must  turn  our  backs  upon 
England,  and  repair  to  France.  Meditating  on  the 
glowing  thought  of  Pascal,  the  persuasive  sweetness  of 
F^nelon,  the  constant  and  comprehensive  benevolence 
of  the  Abbe*  Saint  Pierre,  we  may  be  reminded  of  Chan 
cing. 

"With  few  of  the  physical  attributes  belonging  to 
the  orator,  he  was  an  orator  of  surpassing  grace.  His 
soul  tabernacled  in  a  body  that  was  little  more  than 
a  filament  of  clay.  He  was  small  in  stature ;  but  when 
he  spoke,  his  person  seemed  to  dilate  with  the  majesty 
of  his  thoughts, — as  the  Hercules  of  Lysippus,  a  marvel 
of  ancient  art,  though  not  more  than  a  foot  in  height, 
revived  in  the  mind  the  superhuman  strength  which 
overcame  the  Xemean  lion :  — 

"  Deus  ille,  Deus ;  seseque  vldendum 
Indulsit,  Lysijtpo,  tibi, parvutqut  vukri 
Stntirique.  ingcnt."  1 

His  voice  was  soft  and  musical,  not  loud  or  full  in 
tone ;  and  yet,  like  conscience,  it  made  itself  heard  in 
the  inmost  chambers  of  the  soul  His  eloquence  was 
gentleness  and  persuasion,  reasoning  for  religion,  hu- 

•  Statiua,  Silv.,  Lib.  IV.  Carm.  6. 


THE  ARTIST,   THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  297 

inanity,  and  justice.  He  did  not  thunder  or  lighten. 
The  rude  elemental  forces  furnish  no  proper  image  of 
his  power.  Like  sunshine,  his  words  descended  upon 
the  souls  of  his  hearers,  and  under  their  genial  influ 
ence  the  hard  in  heart  were  softened,  while  the  closely 
hugged  mantle  of  prejudice  and  error  dropped  to  the 
earth. 

His  eloquence  had  not  the  character  and  fashion  of 
forensic  effort  or  parliamentary  debate.  It  mounted 
above  these,  into  an  atmosphere  unattempted  by  the 
applauded  orators  of  the  world.  Whenever  he  spoke 
or  wrote,  it  was  with  loftiest  purpose,  as  his  works  at 
test,  —  not  for  public  display,  not  to  advance  himself, 
not  on  any  question  of  pecuniary  interest,  not  under 
any  worldly  temptation,  but  to  promote  the  love  of  God 
and  man.  Here  are  untried  founts  of  truest  inspiration. 
Eloquence  has  been  called  action;  but  it  is  something 
more.  It  is  that  divine  and  ceaseless  energy  which  saves 
and  helps  mankind.  It  cannot  assume  its  highest  form 
in  personal  pursuit  of  dishonest  guardians,  or  selfish 
contention  for  a  crown,  —  not  in  defence  of  a  murderer, 
or  invective  hurled  at  a  conspirator.  I  would  not  over 
step  the  proper  modesty  of  this  discussion,  nor  would  I 
disparage  the  genius  of  the  great  masters ;  but  all  must 
join  in  admitting  that  no  rhetorical  skill  or  oratorical 
power  can  elevate  these  lower,  earthly  things  to  the  nat 
ural  heights  on  which  Channing  stood,  when  he  pleaded 
for  Freedom  and  Peace. 

Such  wras  our  Philanthropist.  Advancing  in  life,  his 
enthusiasm  seemed  to  brighten,  his  soul  put  forth  fresh 
blossoms  of  hope,  his  mind  opened  to  new  truths.  Age 
brings  experience  ;  but,  except  in  a  few  constitutions  of 
rare  felicity,  it  renders  the  mind  indifferent  to  what  is 


298  THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST, 

new,  particularly  in  moral  truth.  His  last  months  were 
passed  amid  the  heights  of  Berkshire,  with  a  people  to 
whom  may  be  applied  what  Bentivoglio  said  of  Switzer 
land,  —  "  Their  mountains  become  them,  and  they  be 
come  their  mountains."  To  them,  on  the  1st  of  August, 
1842,  he  volunteered  an  Anniversary  Address,  in  com 
memoration  of  that  great  English  victory,  —  the  peace 
ful  emancipation  of  eight  hundred  thousand  slaves. 
These  were  the  last  public  words  from  his  lips.  His 
final  benediction  descended  on  the  slave.  His  spirit, 
taking  flight,  seemed  to  say,  —  nay,  still  says,  Remem 
ber  the  Slave. 


Thus  have  I  attempted,  humbly  and  affectionately,  to 
bring  before  you  the  images  of  our  departed  brothers, 
while  I  dwelt  on  the  great  causes  in  which  their  lives 
were  revealed.  Servants  of  Knowledge,  Justice,  Beauty, 
Love,  they  have  ascended  to  the  great  Source  of  Knowl 
edge,  Justice,  Beauty,  Love.  Though  dead,  they  yet 
speak,  informing  the  understanding,  strengthening  the 
sense  of  justice,  refining  the  tastes,  enlarging  the  sym 
pathies.  The  body  dies ;  but  the  page  of  the  Scholar, 
the  interpretation  of  the  Jurist,  the  creation  of  the  Art 
ist,  the  beneficence  of  the  Philanthropist  cannot  die. 

I  have  dwelt  upon  their  lives  and  characters,  less  in 
grief  for  what  we  have  lost  than  in  gratitude  for  what 
we  possessed  so  long,  and  still  retain,  in  their  precious 
example.  Proudly  recollecting  her  departed  children, 
Alma  Mater  may  well  exclaim,  in  those  touching 
words  of  parental  grief,  that  she  would  not  give  her 
dud  sons  for  any  living  sons  in  Christendom.  Picker 
ing,  Story,  Allston,  Channing  !  A  grand  Quaternion ! 


THE  AETIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  299 

Each,  in  his  peculiar  sphere,  was  foremost  in  his  coun 
try.  Each  might  have  said,  what  the  modesty  of  De 
mosthenes  did  not  forbid  him  to  boast,  that,  through 
him,  his  country  had  been  crowned  abroad.  Their 
labors  were  wide  as  Scholarship,  Jurisprudence,  Art, 
Humanity,  and  have  found  acceptance  wherever  these 
are  recognized. 

Their  lives,  which  overflow  with  instruction,  teach 
one  persuasive  lesson  to  all  alike  of  every  calling  and 
pursuit,  —  not  to  live  for  ourselves  alone.  They  lived  for 
Knowledge,  Justice,  Beauty,  Love.  Turning  from  the 
strifes  of  the  world,  the  allurements  of  office,  and  the 
rage  for  gain,  they  consecrated  themselves  to  the  pur 
suit  of  excellence,  and  each,  in  his  own  sphere,  to  be 
neficent  labor.  They  were  all  philanthropists ;  for  the 
labors  of  all  were  directed  to  the  welfare  and  happiness 
of  man. 

In  their  presence,  how  truly  do  we  feel  the  insignifi 
cance  of  office  and  wealth,  which  men  so  hotly  pursue  ! 
"What  is  office  ?  and  what  is  wealth  ?  Expressions 
and  representatives  of  what  is  present  and  fleeting 
only,  investing  the  possessor  with  a  brief  and  local  re 
gard.  Let  this  not  be  exaggerated  ;  it  must  not  be  con 
founded  with  the  serene  fame  which  is  the  reflection  of 
generous  labors  in  great  causes.  The  street  lights,  within 
the  circle  of  their  nightly  glimmer,  seem  to  outshine  the 
distant  stars,  observed  of  men  in  all  lands  and  times ; 
but  gas-lamps  are  not  to  be  mistaken  for  celestial  lumi 
naries.  They  who  live  for  wealth,  and  the  things  of 
this  world,  follow  shadows,  neglecting  realities  eter 
nal  on  earth  and  in  heaven.  After  the  perturbations 
of  life,  all  its  accumulated  possessions  must  be  resigned, 
except  those  only  which  have  been  devoted  to  God  and 


300          THE  SCHOLAK,  THE  JURIST, 

mankind.  "What  we  do  for  ourselves  perishes  with  this 
mortal  dust ;  what  we  do  for  otJiers  lives  coeval  with 
the  benefaction.  Worms  may  destroy  the  body,  but 
they  will  not  consume  such  a  fame. 

Struggles  of  the  selfish  crowd,  clamors  of  a  false  pa 
triotism,  suggestions  of  a  sordid  ambition,  cannot  obscure 
that  commanding  duty  which  enjoins  perpetual  labor 
for  the  welfare  of  the  whole  human  family,  with 
out  distinction  of  country,  color,  or  race.  In  this 
work,  Knowledge,  Jurisprudence,  Art,  Humanity,  all 
are  blessed  ministers.  More  puissant  than  the  sword, 
they  will  lead  mankind  from  the  bondage  of  error  into 
that  service  which  alone  is  freedom :  — 

"  Has  tibi  erunt  artes,  pacitque  imponere  morem."  1 

The  brothers  we  commemorate  join  in  summons 
to  this  gladsome  obedience.  Their  examples  have 
voice.  Go  forth  into  the  many  mansions  of  the  house 
of  life.  Scholar !  store  them  with  learning.  Jurist ! 
strengthen  them  with  justice.  Artist !  adorn  them 
with  beauty.  Philanthropist !  fill  them  with  love.  Be 
servants  of  truth,  each  in  his  vocation,  —  sincere,  pure, 
earnest,  enthusiastic.  A  virtuous  enthusiasm  is  self- 
forgetful  and  noble.  It  is  the  grand  inspiration  yet 
vouchsafed  to  man.  Like  Pickering,  blend  humility 
with  learning.  like  Story,  ascend  above  the  present, 
in  place  and  time.  Like  Allston,  regard  fame  only  as 
the  eternal  shadow  of  excellence.  Like  Channing,  plead 
for  the  good  of  man.  Cultivate  alike  the  wisdom  of 
experience  and  the  wisdom  of  hope.  Mindful  of  the 

1  £neid,  VI.  862.  —  Dryden,  translating  this  passage,  gives  distinctness 
to  a  duty  beyond  the  lanpunpc  of  Virpil  :  — 

•*  The  fettered  time  to  free, 
These  are  imperial  arts,  and  worthy  thee. " 


THE   ARTIST,  THE   PHILANTHROPIST.  301 

future,  do  not  neglect  the  past ;  awed  by  the  majesty 
of  antiquity,  turn  not  with  indifference  from  the  new. 
True  wisdom  looks  to  the  ages  before,  as  well  as  behind. 
Like  the  Janus  of  the  Capitol,  one  front  regards  the 
past,  rich  with  experience,  with  memories,  with  price 
less  traditions  of  virtue  ;  the  other  is  directed  to  the 
All  Hail  Hereafter,  richer  still  with  transcendent  hopes 
and  unfulfilled  prophecies. 

We  stand  on  the  threshold  of  a  new  age,  which  is 
preparing  to  recognize  new  influences.  The  ancient 
divinities  of  Violence  and  Wrong  are  retreating  before 
the  light  of  a  better  day.  The  sun  is  entering  a  new 
ecliptic,  no  longer  deformed  by  those  images  of  animal 
rage,  Taurus,  Leo,  Scorpio,  Sagittarius,  but  beaming 
with  the  mild  radiance  of  those  heavenly  signs,  Faith, 
Hope,  and  Charity. 

"  There  's  a  fount  about  to  stream, 
There  's  a  light  about  to  beam, 
There 's  a  warmth  about  to  glow, 
There  's  a  flower  about  to  blow, 
There 's  a  midnight  blackness  changing 

Into  gray : 

Men  of  thought,  and  men  of  action, 
Clear  the  way  ! 

"  Aid  the  dawning,  tongue  and  pen ! 
Aid  it,  hopes  of  honest  men ! 
Aid  it,  paper !  aid  it,  type ! 
Aid  it,  for  the  hour  is  ripe, 
And  our  earnest  must  not  slacken 

Into  play : 

Men  of  thought,  and  men  of  action, 
Clear  the  way  !  " 

The  age  of  Chivalry  is  gone.  An  age  of  Humanity 
has  come.  The  Horse,  whose  importance,  more  than  hu 
man,  gave  its  name  to  that  early  period  of  gallantry  and 
war,  now  yields  the  foremost  place  to  Man.  In  serving 


302        THE  SCHOLAR,  THE  JURIST,  ETC. 

him,  in  studying  his  elevation,  in  helping  his  welfare, 
in  doing  him  good,  are  fields  of  bloodless  triumph, 
nobler  far  than  any  in  which  Bayard  or  Du  Guesclin 
conquered.  Here  are  spaces  of  labor,  wide  as  the  world, 
lofty  as  heaven.  Let  me  say,  then,  in  the  benison  once 
bestowed  upon  the  youthful  knight,  —  Scholar !  Jurist ! 
Artist!  Philanthropist!  hero  of  a  Christian  age,  com 
panion  of  a  celestial  knighthood,  "  Go  forth,  be  brave, 
loyal,  and  successful ! " 

And  may  it  be  our  office  to  light  a  fresh  beacon-fire 
on  the  venerable  walls  of  Harvard,  sacred  to  Truth,  to 
Christ,  and  to  the  Church,1  —  to  Truth  Immortal,  to 
Christ  the  Comforter,  to  the  Holy  Church  Universal 
Let  the  flame  pass  from  steeple  to  steeple,  from  hill  to 
hill,  from  island  to  island,  from  continent  to  continent, 
till  the  long  lineage  of  fires  illumine  all  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  animating  them  to  the  holy  contests  of 
KNOWLEDGE,  JUSTICE,  BEAUTY,  LOVE! 

i  The  legend  on  the  early  seal  of  Harvard  University  was  Vcritcu.    The 
present  legend  is  Chruto  et  Ecdtnat. 


AM1SLAVERY  DUTIES  OF  THE  WHIG 
PARTY. 

SPEECH  AT  THE  WHIG  STATE  CONVENTION  OF  MASSACHUSETTS,  IN 
FANEUIL  HALL,  BOSTON,  SEPTEMBER  23,  1846. 


THE  Convention  was  organized  by  the  appointment  of  Hon.  Charles 
Hudson,  of  Westminster,  President,  —  Nathan  Appleton,  of  Boston, 
Stephen  C.  Phillips,  of  Salem,  Amos  Abbott,  of  Andover,  Samuel  Hoar, 
of  Concord,  Thomas  Kinnicutt,  of  Worcester,  Isaac  King,  of  Palmer, 

E.  R.  Coit,  of  Pittsfield,  A.  Richards,  of  Dedham,  Artemas  Hale,  of 
Bridgewater,  and  Aaron  Mitchell,  of  Nanrucket,  Vice-Presidents,  —  and 

F.  W.  Lincoln,  Jr.,  of  Boston,  William  S.  Robinson,  of  Lowell,  George 
Marston,  of  Barnstable,  and  E.  G.  Bowdoin,  of  South  Hadley,  Secre 
taries. 

After  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  report  resolutions,  and  its 
withdrawal  for  this  purpose,  there  was  a  call  for  Mr.  Sumner,  who  came 
forward  and  spoke.  This  incident  was  described  by  the  Daily  Advertiser, 
in  its  account  of  the  proceedings,  as  follows. 

"  After  this  committee  had  gone  out,  Charles  Snmner,  Esq.,  of  this 
city,  in  response  to  a  general  call,  took  the  stand  and  made  a  very  elo 
quent  speech,  which  was  received  with  sympathy  and  repeated  bursts 

of  applause An  allusion  which  he  made  to  Daniel  Webster  in 

terms  of  the  highest  admiration,  and  an  appeal  to  him  to  add  to  his 
title  of  Defender  of  the  Constitution  that  of  Defender  of  Freedom  [Human 
ity],  was  received  with  great  applause." 

Mr.  Winthrop,  at  the  call  of  the  Convention,  spoke  immediately  after 
Mr.  Sumner. 

As  Mr.  Sumner  stepped  from  the  platform,  Mr.  Appleton,  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents,  said  to  him,  "  A  good  speech  for  Virginia,  but  out  of 
place  here  "  ;  to  which  Mr.  Sumner  replied,  "  If  good  for  Virginia,  it  is 
good  for  Boston,  as  we  have  our  responsibilities  for  Slavery."  This  inci 
dent  is  mentioned  as  opening  briefly  the  practical  issue  made  by  many 
with  regard  to  the  discussion  of  Slavery  at  the  North. 


304  ANTISLAVERY  DUTIES 


MB.   PRESIDENT  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  WHIGS  OP  MASSA 
CHUSETTS  :  — 


HATEFUL  for  the  honor  done  me  in  this  early  call 
to  address  the  Convention,  I  shall  endeavor  to  speak 
with  sincerity  and  frankness  on  the  duties  of  the  Whig 
party.  It  is  of  Duties  that  I  shall  speak. 

On  the  first  notice  that  our  meeting  was  to  be  in  Bos 
ton,  many  were  disposed  to  regret  that  the  country 
was  not  selected  instead,  believing  that  the  opinions  of 
the  country,  free  as  its  bracing  air,  more  than  those  of 
Boston,  were  in  harmony  with  the  tone  becoming  us  at 
the  present  crisis.  In  the  country  is  the  spirit  of  freedom, 
in  the  city  the  spirit  of  commerce  ;  and  though  these  two 
spirits  may  at  times  act  in  admirable  conjunction  and 
with  irresistible  strength,  yet  it  sometimes  occurs  that  the 
generous  and  unselfish  impulses  of  the  one  are  checked 
and  controlled  by  the  careful  calculations  of  the  other. 
Even  Eight  and  Liberty  are,  in  some  minds,  of  less  sig 
nificance  than  dividends  and  dollars. 

But  I  am  happy  that  the  Convention  is  convoked  in 
Faneuil  Hall,  —  a  place  vocal  with  inspiring  accents  ; 
and  though  on  other  occasions  words  have  been  uttered 
here  which  the  lover  of  morals,  of  freedom,  and  humanity 
must  regret,  these  walls,  faithful  only  to  Freedom,  refuse 
to  echo  them.  "Whigs  of  Massachusetts,  in  Faneuil  Hall 
assembled,  must  be  true  to  this  early  scene  of  patriot 
struggles  ;  they  must  be  true  to  their  own  name,  which 
has  descended  from  the  brave  men  who  took  part  in  those 
struggles. 

We  are  a  Convention  of  Whigs.  And  who  are  the 
Whigs  ?  Some  may  say  they  are  supporters  of  the  Tariff; 
others,  that  they  are  advocates  of  Internal  Improvements, 


OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  305 

of  measures  to  restrict  the  Veto  Power,  or  it  may  be 
of  a  Bank.  All  these  are  now,  or  have  been,  prominent 
articles  of  the  party.  But  this  enumeration  does  not  do 
justice  to  the  "Whig  character. 

The  Whigs,  as  their  name  imports,  are,  or  ought  to  be, 
the  party  of  Freedom.  They  seek,  or  should  seek,  on  all 
occasions,  to  carry  out  fully  and  practically  the  principles 
of  our  institutions.  Those  principles  which  our  fathers 
declared,  and  sealed  with  their  blood,  their  Whig  children 
should  seek  to  manifest  in  acts.  The  Whigs,  therefore, 
reverence  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  embody 
ing  the  vital  truths  of  Freedom,  especially  that  great 
truth,  "  that  all  men  are  created  equal."  They  rever 
ence  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  seek 
to  guard  it  against  infractions,  believing  that  under  the 
Constitution  Freedom  can  be  best  preserved.  They  rev 
erence  the  Union,  believing  that  the  peace,  happiness, 
and  welfare  of  all  depend  upon  this  blessed  bond.  They 
reverence  the  public  faith,  and  require  that  it  shall  be 
punctiliously  kept  in  all  laws,  charters,  and  obligations. 
They  reverence  the  principles  of  morality,  truth,  justice, 
right.  They  seek  to  advance  their  country  rather  than 
individuals,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people 
rather  than  of  leaders.  A  member  of  such  an  association, 
founded  on  the  highest  moral  sentiments,  recognizing 
conscience  and  benevolence  as  animating  ideas,  is  not 
open  to  the  accusation  that  he  "  to  party  gave  up  what 
was  meant  for  mankind,"  —  since  all  tjie  interests  of  the 
party  must  be  coincident  and  commensurate  with  the 
manifold  interests  of  humanity. 

Such  is,  as  I  trust,  the  Whig  party  of  Massachusetts. 
It  refuses  to  identify  itself  exclusively  with  those  meas 
ures  of  transient  policy  which,  like  the  Bank,  may  be- 


306  ANTISLAVERY  DUTIES 

come  "  obsolete  ideas,"  but  connects  itself  with  ever 
lasting  principles  which  can  never  fade  or  decay. 
Doing  this,  it  does  not  neglect  other  things,  as  the  Tariff, 
or  Internal  Improvements  ;  but  it  treats  them  as  subor 
dinate.  Far  less  does  it  show  indifference  to  the  Con 
stitution  or  the  Union ;  for  it  seeks  to  render  these 
guardians  and  representatives  of  the  principles  to  which 
we  are  attached. 

The  Whigs  have  been  called  by  you,  Mr.  President, 
conservatives.  In  a  just  sense,  they  should  be  conserva 
tives,  —  not  of  forms  only,  but  of  substance,  —  not  of 
the  letter  only,  but  of  the  living  spirit.  The  Whigs 
should  be  conservators  of  the  ancestral  spirit,  conser 
vators  of  the  animating  ideas  in  which  our  institutions 
were  born.  They  should  profess  that  truest  and  highest 
conservatism  which  watches,  guards,  and  preserves  the 
great  principles  of  Truth,  Right,  Freedom,  and  Human 
ity.  Such  a  conservatism  is  not  narrow  and  exclusive, 
but  broad  and  expansive.  It  is  not  trivial  and  bigoted, 
but  manly  and  generous.  It  is  the  conservatism  of  '76. 

Let  me  say,  then,  that  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  are 
—  I  hope  it  is  not  my  wish  only  that  is  father  to  the 
thought  —  the  party  which  seeks  the  establishment  of 
Truth,  Freedom,  Right,  and  Humanity,  under  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the  Union  of  the 
States.  They  are  Unionists,  Constitutionalists,  Friends 
of  the  Right. 

The  question  here  arises,  How  shall  this  party,  in 
spired  by  these  principles,  now  act  ?  The  answer  is  easy. 
In  strict  accordance  with  their  principles.  It  must  utter 
them  with  distinctness,  and  act  upon  them  with  energy. 

The  party  will  naturally  express  opposition  to  the 
present  Administration  for  its  treacherous  course  on 


OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  307 

the  tariff,  and  for  its  interference  by  veto  with  inter 
nal  improvements ;  but  it  will  be  more  alive  to  evils 
of  greater  magnitude,  —  the  unjust  and  unchristian  war 
with  Mexico,  which  is  not  less  absurd  than  wicked,  and, 
beyond  this,  the  institution  of  Slavery. 

The  time,  I  believe,  has  gone  by,  when  the  question 
is  asked,  What  has  the  North  to  do  with  Slavery  ?  It 
might  almost  be  answered,  that,  politically,  it  has  lit 
tle  to  do  with  anything  else,  —  so  are  all  the  acts  of  our 
Government  connected,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  this 
institution.  Slavery  is  everywhere.  Appealing  to  the 
Constitution,  it  enters  the  Halls  of  Congress,  in  the  dis 
proportionate  representation  of  the  Slave  States.  It 
holds  its  disgusting  mart  at  Washington,  in  the  shadow 
of  the  Capitol,  under  the  legislative  jurisdiction  of  the 
Nation,  —  of  the  North  as  well  as  the  South.  It  sends 
its  miserable  victims  over  the  high  seas,  from  the  ports 
of  Virginia  to  the  ports  of  Louisiana,  beneath  the  pro 
tecting  flag  of  the  Kepublic.  It  presumes  to  follow  into 
the  Free  States  those  fugitives  who,  filled  with  the  in 
spiration  of  Freedom,  seek  our  altars  for  safety ;  nay, 
more,  with  profane  hands  it  seizes  those  who  have 
never  known  the  name  of  slave,  freemen  of  the  North, 
and  dooms  them  to  irremediable  bondage.  It  insults 
and  expels  from  its  jurisdiction  honored  representatives 
of  Massachusetts,  seeking  to  secure  for  her  colored  citi 
zens  the  peaceful  safeguard  of  the  Union.  It  assumes 
at  pleasure  to  build  up  new  slaveholding  States,  striv 
ing  perpetually  to  widen  its  area,  while  professing  to 
extend  the  area  of  Freedom.  It  has  brought  upon  the 
country  war  with  Mexico,  with  its  enormous  expen 
ditures  and  more  enormous  guilt.  By  the  spirit  of 
union  among  its  supporters,  it  controls  the  affairs  of 


308  ANTISLAVEEY  DUTIES 

Government,  —  interferes  with  the  cherished  interests 
of  the  North,  enforcing  and  then  refusing  protection  to 
her  manufactures,  —  makes  and  unmakes  Presidents,  — 
usurps  to  itself  the  larger  portion  of  all  offices  of  honor 
and  profit,  both  in  the  army  and  navy,  and  also  in  the 
civil  department,  —  and  stamps  upon  our  whole  country 
the  character,  before  the  world,  of  that  monstrous  anom 
aly  and  mockery,  a  slaveholding  republic,  with  the  liv 
ing  truths  of  Freedom  on  its  lips  and  the  dark  mark  of 
Slavery  on  its  brow. 

In  opposition  to  Slavery,  Massachusetts  has  already, 
to  a  certain  extent,  done  what  becomes  her  character  as 
a  free  Commonwealth.  By  successive  resolutions  of  her 
Legislature,  she  Las  called  for  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave-trade  between  the  States ;  and  she  has  also  pro 
posed  an  amendment  of  the  Constitution,  putting  the 
South  upon  an  equality  with  the  North  in  Congressional 
representation.  More  than  this,  her  judiciary,  always 
pure,  fearless,  and  upright,  has  inflicted  upon  Slavery 
the  brand  of  reprobation.  I  but  recall  a  familiar  fact, 
when  I  refer  to  the  opinion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  where  it  is  expressly  declared  that  "  sla 
very  is  contrary  to  natural  right,  to  the  principles  of 
justice,  humanity,  and  sound  policy."  1  This  is  the  law 
of  Massachusetts. 

And  shall  this  Commonwealth  continue  in  any  way 
to  sustain  an  institution  which  its  laws  declare  to  be 
contrary  to  natural  right,  justice,  humanity,  and  sound 
policy  ?  Shall  Whigs  support  what  is  contrary  to  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  party  ?  Here  the  con 
sciences  of  good  men  respond  to  the  judgment  of  the 

1  18  Pick.  Rep.  215. 


OF   THE  WHIG  PARTY.  309 

Court.  If  it  be  wrong  to  hold  a  single  slave,  it  must  be 
wrong  to  hold  many.  If  it  be  wrong  for  an  individual 
to  hold  a  slave,  it  must  be  wrong  for  a  State.  If  it 
be  wrong  for  a  State  in  its  individual  capacity,  it  must 
be  wrong  also  in  association  with  other  States.  Massa 
chusetts  does  not  allow  any  of  her  citizens  within  her 
borders  to  hold  slaves.  Let  her  be  consistent,  and  call 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  wherever  she  is  any  way 
responsible  for  it,  not  only  where  she  is  a  party  to  it, 
but  wherever  it  may  be  reached  by  her  influence,  —  that 
is,  everywhere  beneath  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
National  Government.  "  If  any  practices  exist,"  said  Mr. 
Webster,  in  one  of  those  earlier  efforts  which  commended 
him  to  our  admiration,  his  Discourse  at  Plymouth  in  1820, 
— "  if  any  practices  exist  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
justice  and  humanity,  within  the  reach  of  our  laws  or 
our  influence,  we  are  inexcusable,  if  we  do  not  exert  our 
selves  to  restrain  and  abolish  t/iem."  l  This  is  correct, 
worthy  of  its  author,  and  of  Massachusetts.  It  points 
directly  to  Massachusetts  as  inexcusable  for  not  doing 
her  best  to  restrain  and  abolish  slavery  everywhere 
within  the  reach  of  her  laws  or  her  influence. 

Certainly,  to  labor  in  this  cause  is  far  higher  and 
nobler  than  to  strive  for  repeal  of  the  Tariff,  once  the 
tocsin  to  rally  the  Whigs.  EEPEAL  OF  SLAVERY  UNDER 
THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  LAWS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  GOV 
ERNMENT  is  a  watchword  more  Christian  and  more  po 
tent,  because  it  embodies  a  higher  sentiment  and  a  more 
commanding  duty. 

The  time  has  passed  when  this  can  be  opposed  on 
constitutional  grounds.  It  will  not  be  questipned  by 
any  competent  authority,  that  Congress  may,  by  express 

1  Works,  Vol.  I.  p.  45. 


310  AXTISLAVERY  DUTIES 

legislation,  abolish  slavery  :  first,  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia  ;  secondly,  in  the  Territories,  if  there  should  be 
any ;  thirdly,  that  it  may  abolish  the  slave-trade  on  the 
high  seas  between  the  States ;  fourthly,  that  it  may  re 
fuse  to  admit  new  States  with  a  constitution  sanction 
ing  slavery.  Nor  can  it  be  questioned  that  the  people 
of  the  United  States  may,  in  the  manner  pointed  out  by 
the  Constitution,  proceed  to  its  amendment.  It  is,  then, 
by  constitutional  legislation,  and  even  by  amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  that  slavery  may  be  reached. 

Here  the  question  arises,  Is  there  any  compromise  in 
the  Constitution  of  such  a  character  as  to  prevent  ac 
tion  ?  This  word  is  invoked  by  many  honest  minds  as 
the  excuse  for  not  joining  in  this  cause.  Let  me  meet 
this  question  frankly  and  fairly.  The  Constitution,  it 
is  said,  was  the  result  of  compromise  between  the  Free 
States  and  the  Slave  States,  which  good  faith  will  not 
allow  us  to  break  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the 
Slave  States,  by  their  many  violations  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  have  already  overturned  all  the  original  compro 
mises,  if  any  there  were  of  perpetual  character.  But 
I  do  not  content  myself  with  this  answer.  I  wish  to 
say,  distinctly,  that  there  is  no  compromise  on  slavery 
not  to  be  reached  legally  and  constitutionally,  which  is 
the  only  way  in  which  I  propose  to  reach  it.  Wher 
ever  powers  and  jurisdiction  are  secured  to  Congress, 
they  may  unquestionably  be  exercised  in  conformity 
witli  the  Constitution ;  even  in  matters  beyond  existing 
powers  and  jurisdiction  there  is  a  constitutional  method 
of  action.  The  Constitution  contains  an  article  point 
ing  out  how,  at  any  time,  amendments  may  be  made. 
This  is  an  important  element,  giving  to  the  Constitution 
a  progressive  character,  and  allowing  it  to  be  moulded 


OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  311 

according  to  new  exigencies  and  conditions  of  feelincr. 

O  o  O 

The  wise  framers  of  this  instrument  did  not  treat  the 
country  as  a  Chinese  foot,  —  never  to  grow  after  its  in 
fancy,  —  but  anticipated  the  changes  incident  to  its 
advance.  "Provided,  that  no  amendment  which  may 
be  made  prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  eight  shall  in  any  manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth 
clauses  in  the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article,  and  that 
no  State,  without  its  consent,  shall  be  deprived  of  its 
equal  suffrage  in  the  Senate."  These  are  the  words  of 
the  Constitution.  They  expressly  designate  what  shall 
be  sacred  from  amendment,  —  what  compromise  shall 
be  perpetual,  —  and  so  doing,  according  to  a  familiar 
rule  of  law  and  of  logic,  virtually  declare  that  the  re 
mainder  of  the  Constitution  may  be  amended.  Already, 
since  its  adoption,  twelve  amendments  have  been  made, 
and  every  year  produces  new  projects.  There  has  been 
a  pressure  on  the  floor  of  Congress  to  abrogate  the  veto, 
and  also  to  limit  the  tenure  of  the  Presidential  office. 
Let  it  be  distinctly  understood,  then,  —  and  tliis  is  my 
answer  to  the  pretension  of  binding  compromise,  —  that, 
in  conferring  upon  Congress  certain  specified  powers  and 
jurisdiction,  and  also  in  providing  for  the  amendment 
of  the  Constitution,  its  framers  expressly  established 
the  means  for  setting  aside  what  are  vaguely  called 
compromises  of  the  Constitution.  They  openly  de 
clare,  "  Legislate  as  you  please,  in  conformity  with  the 
Constitution ;  and  even  make  amendments  rendered 
proper  by  change  of  opinion  or  circumstances,  fol 
lowing  always  the  manner  prescribed." 

Nor  can  we  dishonor  the  revered  authors  of  the 
Constitution  by  supposing  that  they  set  their  hands  to 
it,  believing  that  under  it  slavery  was  to  be  perpetual, 


312  ANTISLAVERY   DUTIES 

—  that  the  Republic,  which  they  had  reared  to  its 
giant  stature,  snatched  from  heaven  the  sacred  fire  of 
Freedom,  only  to  be  bound,  like  another  Prometheus,  in 
adamantine  chains  of  Fate,  while  Slavery,  like  another 
vulture,  preyed  upon  its  vitals.  Let  Franklin  speak  for 
them.  He  was  President  of  the  earliest  Abolition 
Society  in  the  United  States,  and  in  1790,  only  two 
years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  addressed 
a  petition  to  Congress,  calling  upon  them  to  "  step  to 
the  very  verge  of  the  power  vested  in  them  for  discour 
aging  every  species  of  traffic  in  the  persons  of  our  fel 
low-men."  1  Let  Jefferson  speak  for  them.  His  desire 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  was  often  expressed  with 
philanthropic  warmth  and  emphasis,  and  is  too  familiar 
to  be  quoted.  Let  Washington  speak  for  them.  "  It  is 
among  my  first  wishes,"  he  said,  in  a  letter  to  John  F. 
Mercer, "  to  see  some  plan  adopted  by  which  slavery  in 
this  country  may  be  abolished  by  law."*  And  in  his  will, 
penned  with  his  own  hand,  during  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  he  bore  his  testimony  again,  by  providing  for  the 
emancipation  of  all  his  slaves.  It  is  thus  that  Washing 
ton  speaks,  not  only  by  words,  but  by  actions  more  sig 
nificant  :  "  Give  freedom  to  your  slaves."  The  Father  of 
his  Country  requires,  as  a  token  of  the  filial  piety  wliich 
all  profess,  that  his  example  shall  be  followed.  I  am 
not  insensible  to  the  many  glories  of  his  character ;  but 
I  cannot  contemplate  this  act  without  a  fresh  feeling  of 
admiration  and  gratitude.  The  martial  scene  depicted  on 
that?  votive  canvas  may  fade  from  the  memory  of  men  ; 
but  this  act  of  justice  and  benevolence  can  never  perish. 

"  Ergo  postqne  magisqne  viri  none  gloria  claret" 

1  Annal*  of  Congre**,  First  Congress,  Second  Session,  col.  1198. 
>  Sparks's  Writings  of  Washington,  VoL  LX.  p.  169,  note. 


OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  313 

I  assume,  then,  that  it  is  the  duty  of  Whigs  profess 
ing  the  principles  of  the  fathers  to  express  themselves 
openly,  distinctly,  and  solemnly  against  slavery,  —  not 
only  against  its  further  extension,  but  against  its  longer 
continuance  under  tlie  Constitution  and  Laws  of  the  Union. 
But  while  it  is  their  duty  to  enter  upon  this  holy  war 
fare,  it  should  be  their  aim  to  temper  it  with  moderation, 
with  gentleness,  with  tenderness,  towards  slave-owners. 
These  should  be  won,  if  possible,  rather  than  driven,  to 
the  duties  of  emancipation.  But  emancipation  should 
always  be  presented  as  the  cardinal  object  of  our  national 
policy. 

It  is  for  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts  now  to  say 
whether  the  republican  edifice  shall  indeed  be  one 
where  all  the  Christian  virtues  will  be  fellow-workers 
with  them.  The  resolutions  which  they  adopt,  the 
platform  of  principles  which  they  establish,  must  be  the 
imperishable  foundation  of  a  true  glory. 

But  it  will  not  be  sufficient  to  pass  resolutions  oppos 
ing  slavery ;  we  must  choose  men  who  will  devote  them 
selves  earnestly,  heartily,  to  the  work,  —  who  will  enter 
upon  it  with  awakened  conscience,  and  with  that  valiant 
faith  before  which  all  obstacles  disappear,  —  who  will 
be  ever  loyal  to  Truth,  Freedom,  Eight,  Humanity, — 
who  will  not  look  for  rules  of  conduct  down  to  earth,  in 
the  mire  of  expediency,  but  with  heaven-directed  coun 
tenance  seek  those  great  "  primal  duties  "  which  "  shine 
aloft  like  stars,"  to  illumine  alike  the  path  of  individu 
als  and  of  nations.  They  must  be  true  to  the  princi 
ples  of  Massachusetts.  They  must  not  be  Northern 
men  with  Southern  principles,  nor  Northern  men  under 
Southern  influences.  They  must  be  courageous  and 
willing  on  all  occasions  to  stand  alone,  provided  Right 

VOL.  I.  14 


314  AXTISLAVEBY  DUTIES 

be  with  them.  "  Were  there  as  many  devils  in  Worms  as 
there  are  tiles  upon  the  roofs,"  said  Martin  Luther,  "  yet 
would  I  enter."  Such  a  spirit  is  needed  now  by  the 
advocates  of  Eight.  They  must  not  be  ashamed  of  the 
name  which  belongs  to  Franklin,  Jefferson,  and  Wash 
ington,  —  expressing  the  idea  which  should  be  theirs, — 
Abolitionist.  They  must  be  thorough,  uncompromising 
advocates  of  the  repeal  of  slavery,  —  of  its  abolition 
under  the  laws  and  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
They  must  be  Repealers,  Abolitionists. 

There  are  a  few  such  now  in  Congress.  Massachu 
setts  has  a  venerable  Representative,1  whose  aged  bo 
som  still  glows  with  inextinguishable  fires,  like  the 
central  heats  of  the  monarch  mountain  of  the  Andes 
beneath  its  canopy  of  snow.  To  this  cause  he  dedicates 
the  closing  energies  of  a  long  and  illustrious  life. 
Would  that  all  might  join  him ! 

There  is  a  Senator  of  Massachusetts  we  had  hoped 
to  welcome  here  to-day,  whose  position  is  of  command 
ing  influence.  Let  me  address  him  with  the  respectful 
frankness  of  a  constituent  and  friend.  Already,  Sir, 
by  various  labors,  you  have  acquired  an  honorable  place 
in  the  history  of  our  country.  By  the  vigor,  argu 
mentation,  and  eloquence  with  which  you  upheld  the 
Union,  and  that  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  which 
makes  us  a  Nation,  you  have  justly  earned  the  title  of 
Defender  of  the  Constitution.  By  masterly  and  success 
ful  negotiation,  and  by  efforts  to  compose  the  strife  con 
cerning  Oregon,  you  have  earned  another  title,  —  De 
fender  of  Peace.  Pardon  me,  if  I  add,  that  there  are  yet 
other  duties  claiming  your  care,  whose  performance  will 
be  the  crown  of  a  long  life  in  the  public  service.  Do 

I  John  Quincy  Adams. 


OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY.  315 

not  forget  them.  Dedicate,  Sir,  the  years  happily  in 
store  for  you,  with  all  that  precious  experience  which 
is  yours,  to  grand  endeavor,  in  the  name  of  Human 
Freedom,  for  the  overthrow  of  that  terrible  evil  which 
now  afflicts  our  country.  In  this  cause  are  inspirations 
to  eloquence  higher  than  any  you  have  yet  confessed. 

"  To  heavenly  themes  sublimer  strains  belong." 

Do  not  shrink  from  the  task.  With  the  marvellous 
powers  that  are  yours,  under  the  auspicious  influences 
of  an  awakened  public  sentiment,  and  under  God,  who 
smiles  always  upon  conscientious  labor  for  the  welfare 
of  man,  we  may  hope  for  beneficent  results.  Assume, 
then,  these  unperformed  duties.  The  aged  shall  bear 
witness  to  you;  the  young  shall  kindle  with  rapture, 
as  they  repeat  the  name  of  Webster ;  the  large  com 
pany  of  the  ransomed  shall  teach  their  children  and 
their  children's  children,  to  the  latest  generation,  to 
call  you  blessed ;  and  you  shall  have  yet  another  title, 
never  to  be  forgotten  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  —  Defender 
of  Humanity,  —  by  the  side  of  which  that  earlier  title 
will  fade  into  insignificance,  as  the  Constitution,  which 
is  the  work  of  mortal  hands,  dwindles  by  the  side  of 
Man,  created  in  the  image  of  God.1 

To  my  mind  it  is  clear  that  the  time  has  arrived 
when  the  Whigs  of  Massachusetts,  the  party  of  Freedom, 
owe  it  to  their  declared  principles,  to  their  character 
before  the  world,  and  to  conscience,  that  they  should 
place  themselves  firmly  on  this  honest  ground.  They 
need  not  fear  to  stand  alone.  They  need  not  fear  sep 
aration  from  brethren  with  whom  they  have  acted  in 
concert.  Better  be  separated  even  from  them  than  from 

1  How  Mr.  Webster  regarded  this  appeal  will  be  seen  in  a  letter  from  him 
at  the  end  of  the  Speech. 


316        AXTISLAVERY  DUTIES  OF  THE  WHIG  PARTY. 

the  Right.  Massachusetts  can  stand  alone,  if  need  be. 
The  AVhigs  of  Massachusetts  can  stand  alone.  Their 
motto  should  not  be, "  Our  party,  howsoever  bounded,"  but 
"  Our  i>arty,  bounded  always  by  the  Right."  They  must 
recognize  the  dominion  of  Right,  or  there  will  be  none 
who  will  recognize  the  dominion  of  the  party.  Let  us, 
then,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  beneath  the  images  of  our  fathers, 
vow  perpetual  allegiance  to  the  Right,  and  perpetual  hos 
tility  to  Slavery.  Ours  is  a  noble  cause,  nobler  even 
than  that  of  our  fathers,  inasmuch  as  it  is  more  exalted 
to  struggle  for  the  freedom  of  others  than  for  our  own. 
The  love  of  Right,  which  is  the  animating  impulse  of 
our  movement,  is  higher  even  than  the  love  of  Freedom. 
But  Right,  Freedom,  and  Humanity  all  concur  in  de 
manding  the  Abolition  of  Slavery. 


LETTER  OF  MR.  WEBSTER  TO  MR.  SUMNER. 

MARS H FIELD,  October  5,  1846. 

MT  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  yours  of  September 
25th,  and  thank  you  for  the  kind  and  friendly  sentiments  which  \ <>u 
express.  These  sentiments  are  reciprocal.  I  have  ever  cherished 
high  respect  for  your  character  and  talents,  and  seen  with  pleasure  the 
promise  of  your  future  and  greater  eminence  and  usefulness. 

In  political  affairs  we  happen  to  entertain,  at  the  present  moment,  a 
difference  of  opinion  respecting  the  relative  importance  of  some  of  the 
political  questions  of  the  time,  and  take  a  different  view  of  the  line  of 
duty  most  fit  to  be  pursued  in  endeavors  to  obtain  all  the  good  which 
can  be  obtained  in  connection  with  certain  important  subjects.  These 
differences  I  much  regret,  but  shall  not  allow  them  to  interfere  with 
personal  regard,  or  my  continued  good  wishes  for  your  prosperity  and 
happintM. 

Toon  truly, 

DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

Ms.  SCXXKB. 


WRONGFUL  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 
AGAINST  MEXICO. 

LETTER  TO  HON.  ROBERT  C.  WIXTHROP,  REPRESENTATIVE  IN  CON 
GRESS  FROM  BOSTON,  OCTOBER  25,  1846. 


SIR,  —  Newspapers,  and  some  among  your  friends, 
complain  of  the  manner  in  which  many  of  your  con 
stituents  are  obliged  to  regard  your  vote  on  the  Mexican 
War  Bill.  This  vote  is  defended  with  an  ardor  such  as 
even  Truth,  Freedom,  and  Eight  do  not  always  find  in 
their  behalf,  —  while  honest  strictures  are  attributed  to 
personal  motives,  sometimes  to  a  selfish  desire  for  the 
place  you  now  hold,  sometimes  even  to  a  wanton  pur 
pose  to  injure  you. 

All  this  may  be  the  natural  and  inevitable  incident  of 
political  controversy  ;  but  it  must  be  regretted  that  per 
sonal  feelings  and  imputations  of  personal  selfishness 
should  intrude  into  the  discussion  of  an  important  ques 
tion  of  public  duty,  —  I  might  say,  of  public  morals. 
As  a  Whig,  never  failing  to  vote  for  you  when  I  had  an 
opportunity,  I  have  felt  it  proper  on  other  occasions  to 
review  your  course,  and  to  express  the  sorrow  it  caused. 
For  this  I  am  arraigned ;  and  the  question  of  public  morals 
is  forgotten  in  personal  feeling.  This  is  my  excuse  for 
recalling  attention  now  to  the  true  issue.  Conscious  of 
no  feeling  to  yourself  personally,  except  of  good-will, 
mingled  with  the  recollection  of  pleasant  social  inter- 


318       WRONGFUL  DECLABATION  OF  WAB 

course,  I  refer  with  pain  to  your  vote,  and  the  apologies 
for  it  which  have  been  set  up.  As  one  of  your  constit 
uents,  I  single  you,  who  are  the  representative  of  Boston, 
among  the  majority  with  whom  you  acted.  I  am  not 
a  politician;  and  you  will  pardon  me,  therefore,  if  I 
do  not  bring  your  conduct  to  any  test  of  party  or  of 
numbers,  to  any  sliding  scale  of  expediency,  to  any 
standard  except  the  rule  of  Right  and  Wrong. 

To  understand  your  course,  it  will  be  necessary  to  con 
sider  the  action  of  Congress  in  declaring  war  against 
Mexico.  I  shall  state  the  facts  and  conclusions  briefly 
as  possible. 

By  virtue  of  an  unconstitutional  Act  of  Congress,  in 
conjunction  with  the  de  facto  government  of  Texas,  the 
latter  was  annexed  to  the  United  States  some  time  in 
the  month  of  December,  1845.  If  we  regard  Texas  as  a 
province  of  Mexico,  its  boundaries  must  be  sought  in 
the  geography  of  that  republic.  If  we  regard  it  as  an 
independent  State,  they  must  be  determined  by  the  ex 
tent  of  jurisdiction  which  the  State  was  able  to  maintain. 
Now  it  seems  clear  that  the  river  Xueces  was  always 
recognized  by  Mexico  as  the  western  boundary  ;  and  it 
is  undisputed  that  the  State  of  Texas,  since  its  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  never  exercised  any  jurisdiction 
beyond  the  Xueces.  The  Act  of  Annexation  could  not, 
therefore,  transfer  to  the  United  States  any  title  to  the 
region  between  the  Nueces  and  the  Rio  Grande.  That 
region  belonged  to  Mexico.  Certainly  it  did  not  belong 
to  the  United  States. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1846,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  directed  the  troops  under  General  Taylor, 
called  the  Army  of  Occupation,  to  take  possession  of  this 
region.  Here  was  an  act  of  aggression.  As  might  have 


AGAINST  MEXICO.  319 

been  expected,  it  produced  collision.  The  Mexicans, 
aroused  in  self-defence,  sought  to  repel  the  invaders  from 
their  hearths  and  churches.  Unexpected  tidings  reached 
Washington  that  the  American  forces  were  in  danger.  The 
President,  in  a  message  to  Congress,  called  for  succors. 

Here  the  question  occurs,  What  was  the  duty  of  Con 
gress  in  this  emergency  ?  Clearly  to  withhold  all  sanc 
tion  to  unjust  war, — to  aggression  upon  a  neighboring 
Republic, — to  spoliation  of  fellow-men.  Our  troops  were 
in  danger  only  because  upon  foreign  soil,  forcibly  displa 
cing  the  jurisdiction  and  laws  of  the  rightful  government. 
In  this  condition  of  things,  the  way  of  safety,  just  and 
honorable,  was  by  instant  withdrawal  from  the  Eio 
Grande  to  the  Nueces.  Congress  should  have  spoken 
like  Washington,  when  General  Braddock,  staggered  by 
the  peril  of  the  moment,  asked  the  youthful  soldier, 
"What  shall  I  do,  Colonel  Washington?"  "RE 
TREAT,  Sir !  RETREAT,  Sir ! "  was  the  earnest  re 
ply.  The  American  forces  should  have  been  directed  to 
retreat,  —  not  from  any  human  force,  but  from  wrong 
doing  ;  and  this  would  have  been  a  true  victory. 

Alas  !  this  was  not  the  mood  of  Congress.  With  wicked 
speed  a  bill  was  introduced,  furnishing  large  and  un 
usual  supplies  of  men  and  money.  In  any  just  sense, 
such  provision  was  wasteful  and  unnecessary;  but  it 
would  hardly  be  worthy  of  criticism,  if  confined  in  its 
object  to  the  safety  of  the  troops.  When  made,  it  must 
have  been  known  that  the  fate  of  the  troops  was  already 
decided,  while  the  magnitude  of  the  appropriations  and 
the  number  of  volunteers  called  for  showed  that  meas 
ures  were  contemplated  beyond  self-defence.  Self-defence 
is  easy  and  cheap.  Aggression  and  injustice  are  diffi 
cult  and  costly. 


320       WRONGFUL  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 

The  bill,  in  its  earliest  guise,  provided  money  and 
volunteers  only.  Suddenly  an  amendment  is  introduced, 
in  the  nature  of  a  preamble,  which  gives  to  it  another 
character,  in  harmony  with  the  covert  design  of  the  large 
appropriation.  This  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  123  to 
67;  and  the  bill  then  leaped  forth,  fully  armed,  as  a 
measure  of  open  and  active  hostility  against  Mexico.  As 
such,  it  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  174  to  14.  This  was  on 
the  llth  of  May,  1846,  destined  to  be  among  the  dark 
days  of  our  history. 

The  amendment,  in  the  nature  of  a  preamble,  and  the 
important  part  of  the  bill,  are  as  follows. 

"  W/iererts,  by  the  act  of  the  Republic  of  Mexico,  a  state  of 
war  exists  between  that  Government  and  the  United  States,  — 

"  Bo  it  enacted,  <fec.,  That,  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  to  prosecute  said  war  to  a 
speedy  and  successful  termination,  the  President  be,  and  he 
is  hereby,  authorized  to  employ  the  militia,  naval,  and  mili 
tary  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  for  and  accept 
the  sen-ices  of  any  number  of  volunteers,  not  exceeding  fifty 
thousand,  and  that  the  sum  of  ten  millions  of  dollars  be, 
and  the  same  is  hereby,  appropriated  for  the  purpose." 

This  Act  cannot  be  regarded  merely  as  provision  for 
the  safety  of  General  Taylor ;  nor,  indeed  can  this  be 
considered  the  principal  end  proposed.  It  has  other 
and  ulterior  objects,  broader  and  more  general,  in  view 
of  which  his  safety,  important  as  it  might  be,  is  of  com 
parative  insignificance ;  as  it  would  be  less  mournful  to 
lose  a  whole  army  than  lend  the  solemn  sanction  of 
legislation  to  an  unjust  war. 

This  Act  may  be  considered  in  six  different  aspects. 
It  is  six  times  wrong.  Six  different  and  unanswerable 
reasons  should  have  urged  its  rejection.  Six  different 


AGAINST   MEXICO.  321 

appeals  should  have  touched  every  heart.  I  shall  con 
sider  them  separately. 

First.  It  is  practically  a  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 
against  a  sister  Kepublic.  By  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  power  of  declaring  war  is  vested  in 
Congress.  Before  this  Act  was  passed,  the  Mexican  War 
had  no  legislative  sanction.  Without  this  Act  it  could 
have  no  legislative  sanction.  By  virtue  of  this  Act  the 
present  war  is  waged.  By  virtue  of  this  Act,  an  Ameri 
can  fleet,  at  immense  cost  of  money,  and  without  any 
gain  of  character,  is  now  disturbing  the  commerce  of 
Mexico,  and  of  the  civilized  world,  by  the  blockade  of 
Vera  Cruz.  By  virtue  of  this  Act,  a  distant  expedition, 
with  pilfering  rapacity,  has  seized  the  defenceless  prov 
ince  of  California.  By  virtue  of  this  Act  General  Kearney 
has  marched  upon  and  captured  Santa  Fe.  By  virtue  of 
this  Act  General  Taylor  has  perpetrated  the  massacre 
at  Monterey.  By  virtue  of  this  Act  desolation  has  been 
carried  into  a  thousand  homes,  while  the  uncoffined 
bodies  of  sons,  brothers,  and  husbands  are  consigned  to 
premature  graves.  Lastly,  it  is  by  virtue  of  this  Act 
that  the  army  of  the  United  States  has  been  converted 
into  a  legalized  band  of  brigands,  marauders,  and  bandit 
ti,  against  the  sanctions  of  civilization,  justice,  and  hu 
manity.  American  soldiers,  who  have  fallen  wretchedly 
in  the  streets  of  a  foreign  city,  in  the  attack  upon  a 
Bishops  palace,  in  contest  with  Christian  fellow-men 
defending  firesides  and  altars,  may  claim  the^  epitaph  of 
Simonides  :  "  Go,  tell  the  Lacedaemonians  that  we  lie  here 
in  obedience  to  their  commands."  It  was  in  obedience 
to  this  Act  of  Congress  that  they  laid  down  their  lives. 

Secondly.  This  Act  gives  the  sanction  of  Congress  to 
an  unjust  war.  AVar  is  barbarous  and  brutal ;  but  this 

14*  U 


322  WRONGFUL  DECLARATION   OF  WAR 

is  unjust.  It  grows  out  of  aggression  on  our  part,  and 
is  continued  by  aggression.  The  statement  of  facts  al 
ready  made  is  sufficient  on  this  head. 

Thirdly.  It  declares  that  war  exists  "  by  the  act  of 
the  Republic  of  Mexico"  This  statement  of  brazen  false 
hood  is  inserted  in  the  front  of  the  Act.  But  it  is  now 
admitted  by  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  Whigs  who  unhap 
pily  voted  for  it,  that  it  is  not  founded  in  fact.  It  is  a 
national  lie. 

"  Whose  tongue  soe'er  speaks  false 
Not  truly  speaks;  who  tptalct  not  truly  LIES." 

Fourthly.  It  provides  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
" to  a  speedy  and  successful  termination"  —  that  is,  for 
the  speedy  and  successful  prosecution  of  unjust  war. 
Surely  no  rule  can  be  better  founded  in  morals  than 
that  we  should  seek  the  establishment  of  right.  How, 
then,  can  we  strive  to  hasten  the  triumph  of  wrong  ? 

Fifthly.  The  war  has  its  origin  in  a  series  of  meas 
ures  to  extend  and  perpetuate  slavery.  A  wise  and 
humane  legislator  should  have  discerned  its  source,  and 
found  fresh  impulses  to  oppose  it. 

Sixthly.  The  war  is  dishonorable  and  cowardly,  as 
the  attack  of  a  rich,  powerful,  numerous,  and  united 
republic  upon  a  weak  and  defenceless  neighbor,  dis 
tracted  by  civil  feud.  Every  consideration  of  honor, 
manliness,  and  Christian  duty  prompted  gentleness  and 
forbearance  towards  our  unfortunate  sister. 

Such,  Sir,  is  the  Act  of  Congress  which  received  your 
sanction.  Hardly  does  it  yield  in  importance  to  any 
measure  of  our  Government  since  the  adoption  of  the 
National  Constitution.  It  is  the  most  wicked  in  our 
history,  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  wicked  in  all  history. 
The  recording  Muse  will  drop  a  tear  over  its  turpitude 


AGAINST   MEXICO.  323 

and  injustice,  while  it  is  gibbeted  for  the  disgust  and 
reprobation  of  mankind. 

Such,  Sir,  is  the  Act  of  Congress  to  which  by  your 
affirmative  vote  the  people  of  Boston  are  made  parties. 
Through  you  they  are  made  to  declare  unjust  and  cow 
ardly  war,  with  superadded  falsehood,  in  the  cause  of 
Slavery.  Through  you  they  are  made  partakers  in  the 
blockade  of  Vera  Cruz,  the  seizure  of  California,  the 
capture  of  Santa  Fe,  the  bloodshed  of  Monterey.  It 
were  idle  to  suppose  that  the  soldier  or  officer  only  is 
stained  by  this  guilt.  It  reaches  far  back,  and  incarna 
dines  the  Halls  of  Congress ;  nay,  more,  through  you, 
it  reddens  the  -hands  of  your  constituents  in  Boston. 
Pardon  this  language.  Strong  as  it  may  seem,  it  is 
weak  to  express  the  aggravation  of  this  Act.  Bather 
than  lend  your  hand  to  this  wickedness,  you  should  have 
suffered  the  army  of  the  United  States  to  pass  submis 
sively  through  the  Caudine  Forks  of  Mexican  power,  — 
to  perish,  it  might  be,  like  the  legions  of  Varus.  Their 
bleached  bones,  in  the  distant  valleys  where  they  were 
waging  unjust  war,  would  not  tell  to  posterity  such  a 
tale  of  ignominy  as  this  lying  Act  of  Congress. 

Passing  from  the  character  and  consequences  of  your 
vote,  I  proceed  to  examine  the  grounds  on  which  it  is 
vindicated :  for  it  is  vindicated,  by  yourself,  and  by  some 
of  your  friends ! 

The  first  vindication,  apology,  or  extenuation  appears 
in  your  speech  on  the  Tariff,  delivered  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  June  25th.  This  was  a  deliberate 
effort,  more  than  six  weeks  subsequent  to  the  vote,  and 
after  all  the  disturbing  influences  of  haste  and  surprise 
had  passed.  It  may  be  considered,  therefore,  to  express 
your  own  view  of  the  ground  on  which  it  is  to  be  sus- 


324       WRONGFUL  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 

tained.  And  here,  while  you  declare,  with  commendable 
frankness,  that  you  "  would  by  no  means  be  understood 
to  vindicate  the  justice"  (why  not  say  the  truth  ?}  "of 
the  declaration  that  war  exists  by  the  act  of  Mexico," 
yet  you  adhere  to  your  vote,  and  animadvert  upon  the 
conduct  of  Mexico,  in  refusing  to  receive  a  minister 
instead  of  a  commissioner,  as  if  that  were  a  vindication, 
apology,  or  extenuation  !  Do  we  live  in  a  Christian 
land  ?  Is  this  the  nineteenth  century  ?  Does  an  Amer 
ican  statesman  venture  any  such  suggestion  in  vindi 
cation,  apology,  or  extenuation  of  war  ?  On  this  point 
I  join  issue.  By  the  Law  of  Nations  as  now  enlight 
ened  by  civilization,  by  the  law  of  common  sense,  by 
the  higher  law  of  Christian  duty,  the  fact  presented 
in  your  vindication  can  form  no  ground  of  war.  This 
attempt  has  given  pain  to  many  of  your  constituents 
hardly  less  than  the  original  vote.  It  shows  insensi 
bility  to  the  true  character  of  war,  and  perverse  adher 
ence  to  the  fatal  act  of  wrong.  It  were  possible  to 
suppose  a  representative,  not  over-tenacious  of  moral 
purpose,  shaken  from  his  firm  resolve  by  the  ardors  of 
a  tyrannical  majority  ordaining  wicked  things;  but  it 
is  less  easy  to  imagine  a  deliberate  vindication  of  the 
hasty  wrong,  when  the  pressure  of  the  majority  is  re 
moved,  and  time  affords  opportunity  for  the  recovery  of 
that  sense  of  Eight  which  was  for  a  while  overturned. 

Another  apology,  in  which  you  and  your  defenders  par 
ticipate,  is  founded  on  the  alleged  duty  of  voting  succors 
to  our  troops,  and  the  impossibility  of  doing  this  with 
out  voting  also  for  the  bill,  after  it  was  converted  into 
a  Declaration  of  Falsehood  and  of  War.  It  is  said  that 
patriotism  required  this  vote.  Is  not  that  name  pro 
faned  by  this  apology  ?  One  of  your  honored  predeces- 


AGAINST   MEXICO.  325 

SOTS,  Sir,  a  Representative  of  Boston  on  the  floor  of  Con 
gress,  Mr.  Quincy,  replied  to  such  apology,  when,  on  an 
occasion  of  trial  not  unlike  that  through  which  you  have 
just  passed,  he  gave  utterance  to  these  noble  words  :  — 

"  But  it  is  said  that  this  resolution  must  be  taken  as  '  a 
test  of  Patriotism.'  To  this  I  have  but  one  answer.  If 
Patriotism  ask  me  to  assert  a  falsehood,  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  telling  Patriotism,  '  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  that 
sacrifice.'  The  duty  we  owe  to  our  country  is,  indeed, 
among  the  most  solemn  and  impressive  of  all  obligations; 
yet,  high  as  it  may  be,  it  is  nevertheless  subordinate  to  that 
which  we  owe  to  that  Being  with  whose  name  and  character 
truth  is  identified.  In  this  respect  I  deem  myself  acting 
upon  this  resolution  under  a  higher  responsibility  than 
either  to  this  House  or  to  this  people." 1 

These  words  were  worthy  of  Boston.  May  her  Rep 
resentatives  never  more  fail  to  feel  their  inspiration  ! 
"  But,"  say  the  too  swift  defenders,  "  Mr.  Winthrop  voted 
against  the  falsehood  oncer  Certainly  no  reason  for 
not  voting  against  it  always.  But  the  excuse  is  still 
pressed,  "  Succors  to  General  Taylor  should  have  been 
voted."  The  result  shows  that  even  these  were  unne 
cessary.  Before  the  passage  of  this  disastrous  Act  of 
Congress,  his  troops  had  already  achieved  a  success  to 
which  may  be  applied  the  words  of  Milton :  — 

"  That  dishonest  victory 
At  Chaeronea,  fatal  to  liberty.1' 

But  it  would  have  been  less  wrong  to  leave  him  with 
out  succors,  even  if  needful  to  his  safety,  than  to  vote 
falsehood  and  unjust  war.  In  seeing  that  the  republic 
received  no  detriment,  you  should  not  have  regarded 

1  Speech  on  the  Resolution  concerning  the  Conduct  of  the  British  Minis 
ter,  Dec.  28,  1809 :  Annals  of  Congress,  Eleventh  Congress,  Second  Session, 
col.  968. 


326       WRONGFUL  DECLARATION  OF  WAR 

the  army  only  ;  your  highest  care  should  have  "been  tlutt 
its  good  name,  its  moral  and  Christian  character,  received 
no  detriment.  You  might  have  said,  in  the  spirit  of  vir 
tuous  Andrew  Fletcher,  that  "  you  would  lose  your  life 
to  serve  your  country,  but  would  not  do  a  base  thing  to 
save  it."  You  might  have  adopted  the  words  of  Sheri 
dan,  in  the  British  Parliament,  during  our  Revolution, 
that  you  "could  not  assent  to  a  vote  that  seemed  to 
imply  a  recognition  or  approbation  of  the  war."  1 

Another  apology  is,  that  the  majority  of  the  Whig  par 
ty  joined  with  you, — or,  as  it  has  been  expressed,  that 
"  Mr.  Winthrop  voted  with  all  the  rest  of  the  weight 
of  moral  character  in  Congress,  from  the  Free  States, 
belonging  to  the  Whig  party,  not  included  in  tJie  Massa 
chusetts  delegation";  and  suggestions  are  made  in  dis 
paragement  of  the  fourteen  who  remained  unshaken  in 
loyalty  to  Truth  and  Peace.  In  the  question  of  Eight 
or  Wrong,  it  is  of  little  importance  that  a  few  fallible 
men,  constituting  what  is  called  a  majority,  are  all  of 
one  mind.  Supple  or  insane  majorities  are  found  in 
every  age  to  sanction  injustice.  It  was  a  majority  which 
passed  the  Stamp  Act  and  Tea  Tax, — which  smiled  up 
on  the  persecution  of  Galileo,  —  which  stood  about  the 
stake  of  Servetus,  —  which  administered  the  hemlock 
to  Socrates,  —  which  called  for  the  crucifixion  of  our 
Lord.  These  majorities  cannot  make  us  hesitate  to  con 
demn  such  acts  and  their  authors.  Aloft  on  the  throne 
of  God,  and  not  below  in  the  footprints  of  a  trampling 
multitude,  are  the  sacred  rules  of  Right,  which  no  major 
ities  can  displace  or  overturn.  And  the  question  recurs, 
Was  it  right  to  declare  unjust  and  cowardly  war,  with 
superadded  falsehood,  in  the  cause  of  Slavery  ? 

I  Speech,  Nor.  27, 1780:  Hansard,  Parl.  Hint,  XXL  906. 


AGAINST   MEXICO.  327 

Thus  do  I  set  forth  the  character  of  your  act,  and  the 
apologies  by  which  it  is  shielded.  I  hoped  that  you 
would  see  the  wrong,  and  with  true  magnanimity  repair 
it.  I  hoped  that  your  friends  would  all  join  in  assist 
ing  you  to  recover  the  attitude  of  uprightness  which 
becomes  a  Representative  from  Boston.  But  I  am  dis 
appointed. 

I  add,  that  your  course  in  other  respects  has  been  in 
disagreeable  harmony  with  the  vote  on  the  Mexican  War 
Bill.  I  cannot  forget  —  for  I  sat  by  your  side  at  the  time 
—  that  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  1845,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  you 
extended  the  hand  of  fellowship  to  Texas,  although  this 
slaveholding  community  was  not  yet  received  among  the 
States  of  the  Union.  I  cannot  forget  the  toast,1  on  the 
same  occasion,  by  which  you  were  willing  to  connect 
your  name  with  an  epigram  of  dishonest  patriotism.  I 
cannot  forget  your  apathy  at  a  later  day,  when  many  of 
your  constituents  engaged  in  constitutional  efforts  to 
oppose  the  admission  of  Texas  w.ith  a  slaveholding  con 
stitution,  —  so  strangely  inconsistent  with  your  recent 
avowal  of  "  uncompromising  hostility  to  all  measures  for 
introducing  new  Slave  States  and  new  Slave  Territories 
into  our  Union."  2  Nor  can  I  forget  the  ardor  with  which 
you  devoted  yourself  to  the  less  important  question  of 
the  Tariff,  —  indicating  the  relative  value  of  the  two  in 
your  mind.  The  vote  on  the  Mexican  War  Bill  seems 
to  be  the  dark  consummation  of  your  course. 

Pardon  me,  if  I  ask  you,  on  resuming  your  seat  in 
Congress,  to  testify  at  once,  without  hesitation  or  de 
lay,  against  the  further  prosecution  of  this  war.  Forget 

1  "Our  country, — however  bounded,  still  our  country,  to  be  defended 
by  all  our  hands." 
a  Speech  at  the  Whig  Convention  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Sept.  23,  1846. 


328  WRONGFUL  DECLARATION   OF  WAR 

for  a  while  Sub-Treasury,  Veto,  even  Tariff,  and  re 
member  tliis  wicked  war.  With  the  eloquence  which 
you  command  so  easily,  and  which  is  your  pride,  call 
for  the  instant  cessation  of  hostilities.  Let  your  cry  be 
that  of  Falkland  in  the  Civil  Wars:  "Peace!  Peace!" 
Think  not  of  what  you  call  in  your  speeches  "  an  hon 
orable  peace."  There  can  be  no  peace  with  Mexico 
which  will  not  be  more  honorable  than  this  war.  Every 
fresh  victory  is  a  fresh  dishonor.  "  Unquestionably," 
you  have  strangely  said,  "we  are  not  to  forget  that 
Mexico  must  be  willing  to  negotiate."  1  No !  no !  Mr. 
Winthrop !  We  are  not  to  wait  for  Mexico.  Her  con 
sent  is  not  .needed ;  nor  is  it  to  be  asked,  while  our 
armies  are  defiling  her  soil  by  their  aggressive  footsteps. 
She  is  passive.  We  alone  are  active.  Stop  the  war. 
Withdraw  our  forces.  In  the  words  of  Colonel  Wash 
ington,  RETREAT  !  RETREAT  !  So  doing,  we  shall  cease 
from  further  wrong,  and  peace  will  ensue. 

Let  me  ask  you  to  remember  in  your  public  course 
the  rules  of  Right  which  you  obey  in  private  life.  The 
principles  of  morals  are  the  same  for  nations  as  for 
individuals.  Pardon  me,  if  I  suggest  that  you  have  not 
acted  invariably  according  to  this  truth.  You  would 
not  in  your  private  capacity  set  your  name  to  a  false 
hood  ;  but  you  have  done  so  as  Representative  in  Con 
gress.  You  would  not  in  your  private  capacity  coun 
tenance  wrong,  even  in  friend  or  child ;  but  as  Repre 
sentative  you  have  pledged  yourself  "not  to  withhold 
your  vote  from  any  reasonable  supplies  which  may  be 
called  for  "  2  in  the  prosecution  of  a  wicked  war.  Do  by 

l  Speech  at  the  Whig  Convention,  Sept  28, 1844. 

*  Speech  on  the  Tariff,  June  26, 1846:  Congressional  Globe,  Twenty-ninth 
Congress,  First  Session,  p.  970. 


AGAINST  MEXICO.  329 

your  country  as  by  friend  or  child.  To  neither  of  these 
would  you  furnish  means  of  offence  against  a  neigh 
bor  ;  do  not  furnish  to  your  country  any  such  means. 
Again,  you  would  not  hold  slaves.  I  doubt  not  you 
would  join  with  Mr.  Palfrey  in  emancipating  any  who 
should  become  yours  by  inheritance  or  otherwise.  But 
I  do  not  hear  of  your  effort  or  sympathy  with  those 
who  seek  to  carry  into  our  institutions  that  practical 
conscience  which  declares  it  to  be  as  wrong  in  States 
as  in  individuals  to  sanction  slavery. 

Let  me  ask  you  still  further  —  and  you  will  know  if 
there  is  reason  for  this  request — to  bear  testimony 
against  the  -Mexican  War,  and  all  supplies  for  its  pros 
ecution,  regardless  of  the  minority  in  which  you  are 
placed.  Think,  Sir,  of  the  cause,  and  not  of  your  asso 
ciates.  Forget  for  a  while  the  tactics  of  party,  and  all 
its  subtle  combinations.  Emancipate  yourself  from  its 
close-woven  web,  spun  as  from  a  spider's  belly,  and 
move  in  the  pathway  of  Eight.  Eemember  that  you 
represent  the  conscience  of  Boston,  the  churches  of  the 
Puritans,  the  city  of  Channing. 

Meanwhile  a  fresh  election  is  at  hand,  and  you  are 
again  a  candidate  for  the  suffrages  of  your  fellow-citi 
zens.  I  shall  not  anticipate  their  verdict.  Your  blame 
less  private  life  and  well-known  attainments  will  re 
ceive  the  approbation  of  all ;  but  more  than  one  of  your 
neighbors  will  be  obliged  to  say,  — 

"  Cassio,  I  love  thee, 
But  nevermore  be  officer  of  mine  1 " 

I  am,  Sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

CHARLES  SUMXER. 

OCTOBER  26,  1846. 


REFUSAL  TO  BE  A  CANDIDATE  FOR 
CONGRESS. 

NOTICE  n»  THE  BOSTON  PAPERS,  OCTOBER  31,  1846. 


AFTER  the  appearance  of  Mr.  Stunner's  letter  to  Mr.  Winthrop,  there 
was  a  disposition  with  certain  persons  feeling  strongly  on  Slavery  and  the 
Mexican  War  to  seek  a  candidate  against  the  latter.  Mr.  Sumncr  again 
and  again  refused  to  accept  a  nomination.  Besides  his  constant  unwill 
ingness  to  enter  into  public  life,  he  would  not  consent  that  his  criticism 
of  Mr.  Winthrop  should  be  weakened  by  the  imputation  of  an  unworthy 
desire  for  his  place.  In  his  absence  from  Boston,  lecturing  before 
Lyceums  in  Maine,  a  meeting  of  citizens  was  convened  at  the  Trcmont 
Temple  on  the  evening  of  October  29,  1846,  to  make  what  was  called  an 
"  independent  nomination  for  Congress."  The  meeting  was  called  to 
order  by  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  and  organized  by  the  choice  of  the  following 
officers :  Hon.  Charles  F.  Adams,  President,  —  J.  P.  Blanchard,  Samuel 
May,  George  Merrill,  Dr.  Walter  Channing,  Dr.  Henry  I.  Bowditch, 
and  R.  I.  Attwill,  Vice-Presidcnts,  —  Charles  G.  Davis  and  J.  H.  Frevert, 
Secretaries.  A  committee  was  appointed  to  draft  resolutions  and  nom 
inate  a  candidate.  This  committee,  by  its  chairman,  John  A.  Andrew, 
afterwards  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  reported  an  elaborate  series  of 
resolutions,  setting  forth  reasons  for  a  separate  nomination,  and  con 
cluding  with  a  resolution  in  the  following  terms. 

"  Retolttd,  That  we  recommend  to  the  citizens  of  this  District  as  a  can 
didate  for  Representative  in  the  National  Congress  a  man  raised  by  his 
pure  character  above  reproach,  whose  firmness,  intelligence,  distinguished 
ability,  rational  patriotism,  manly  independence,  and  glowing  love  of  lib 
erty  and  truth  entitle  him  to  the  nnbonght  confidence  of  his  fellow-cit 
izens, —CHARLES  SUMXER,  of  Boston,  —  fitted  to  adorn  any  station, 
always  found  on  the  side  of  the  Right,  and  especially  worthy  at  the 
present  crisis  to  represent  the  interests  of  the  city  and  the  cardinal  prin 
ciples  of  Truth,  Justice,  Liberty,  and  Peace,  which  have  not  yet  died  out 
from  the  hearts  of  her  citizens." 

Mr.  Andrew  followed  the  reading  of  the  resolutions  with  a  speech,  in 
which  he  vindicated  the  position  of  Mr.  Sumncr  as  follows. 


REFUSAL  TO   BE  A  CANDIDATE   FOR  CONGRESS.     331 

"  Mr.  President,  I  shall  have  done  no  adequate  justice  to  the  views  of  the 
committee,  to  this  meeting,  to  the  distinguished  friend  of  Peace  and  Liberty 
to  whose  nomination  this  crowded  assembly  has  with  such  gratifying  and 
enthusiastic  heartiness  so  unequivocally  responded,  nor,  indeed,  to  my  own 
feelings,  until  I  shall  have  made  a  single  statement  of  fact  in  regard  to  the 
attitude  of  Mr.  Sumner  himself  towards  the  act  we  have  just  felt  it  our  duty 
to  perform. 

"  This  nomination,  grateful  as  it  may  be  to  his  feelings,  considered  as  an 
evidence  of  personal  attachment  and  respect  on  the  part  of  so  many  of  his 
friends  and  fellow-citizens,  will  find  him  wholly  unprepared  for  its  recep 
tion  ;  more  than  that,  as  I  myself  do  know,  he  will  hear  of  it  with  surprise 
and  regret.  Though  I  am  unaware  that  any  member  of  the  committee, 
other  than  myself,  has  had  any  immediate  personal  knowledge  of  the  views 
likely  to  be  entertained  by  him  in  this  regard,  I  say,  what  no  living  man 
can  truly  dispute  or  honestly  question,  that  this  nomination  has  been  made 
upon  the  entire  responsibility  and  sense  of  duty  of  this  committee,  —  not 
only  without  the  knowledge,  approbation,  or  consent  of  Mr.  Sumner,  but  in 
the  face  of  his  constant,  repeated,  and  determined  refusal,  at  all  times,  to 
allow  his  name,  even  for  a  moment,  to  be  held  at  the  disposal  of  friends  for 
such  a  purpose. 

"  A  delicate  and  sensitive  appreciation  of  his  attitude,  as  one  of  the  earliest, 
strongest,  and  most  open  of  those  opposed  to  the  dealings  of  our  present 
member  of  Congress  with  the  matter  of  the  Mexican  War,  determined  Mr. 
Sumner,  although  looked  to  by — may  I  not  say  every  individual  who  sym 
pathizes  in  this  present  movement  of  opposition,  as  the  man  to  bear  our 
standard  on  the  field  of  controversy?  —  determined  him  to  resist  every 
effort  to  draw  him  forth  from  the  humblest  station  in  our  ranks. 

"  He  would  think,  write,  and  speak  as  his  own  mind  and  heart  were 
moved;  but  he  would  do  nothing,  he  would  permit  nothing  to  be  done,  for 
himself,  for  his  own  personal  promotion." 

Mr.  Andrew  then  proceeded  to  mention  what  induced  the  committee 
to  disregard  Mr.  Sumner's  known  wishes. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously.  A  committee  of  vigi 
lance  was  appointed.  Mr.  Summer's  letter  to  Mr.  Winthrop,  with  the 
report  of  this  meeting,  signed  by  the  President  and  Secretaries,  was 
printed  on  a  broad-side. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Sumner  returned  from  Maine,  when,  on  learning 
what  had  passed,  he  at  once  withdrew  his  name  in  the  following  notice. 

LATE  last  evening,  on  my  return  from  Bangor,  where 
I  had  been  in  pursuance  of  an  engagement  made 
last  August,  I  was  surprised  to  find  myself  nominated 
as  candidate  for  Congress. 


332     REFUSAL  TO  BE  A  CANDIDATE  FOB  CONGRESS. 

I  have  never  on  any  occasion  sought  or  desired  public 
office  of  any  kind.  I  do  not  now.  My  tastes  are  alien 
to  official  life ;  and  I  have  long  been  accustomed  to  look 
to  other  fields  of  usefulness. 

My  name  has  been  brought  forward,  in  my  absence, 
without  any  knowledge  or  suspicion  on  my  part  of  such 
a  purpose,  and  contrary  to  express  declarations,  repeat 
edly  made,  that  I  would  not,  under  any  circumstances, 
consent  to  be  a  candidate. 

Grateful  for  the  kindness  of  friends  who  have  thought 
me  worthy  of  political  confidence,  and  regretting  much 
that  it  is  not  bestowed  upon  some  one  else,  who  would 
fitly  represent  the  idea  of  opposition  to  the  longer  con 
tinuance  of  the  unjust  war  with  Mexico,  I  beg  leave 
respectfully,  but  explicitly,  to  withdraw  my  name  from 

the  canvass. 

CHARLES  SUMNER. 

SATURDAY,  OCTOBER  31. 


SPEECH  AT  A  PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  THE  TREMONT  TEMPLE,  BOSTON, 
NOVEMBER  5.  1846. 


THE  sentiment  against  Slavery  and  the  Mexican  War  found  expres 
sion  in  the  independent  nomination  of  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe  as  Representative 
to  Congress.  At  a  meeting  of  citizens  to  support  this  nomination,  John 
A.  Andrew,  Esq.,  was  called  to  the  chair.  The  following  resolution  was 
reported  from  the  District  Committee  by  John  S.  Eldridge,  Esq. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  determination  of  our  candidate,  Dr.  SAMCEL  G. 
HOWE,  '  to  stand  and  be  shot  at,'  we  recognize  the  spirit  of  a  man  distin 
guished  by  a  life  of  service  in  various  fields  of  humanity ;  and,  confidently 
trusting  in  the  triumph  of  sound  principles,  we  heartily  pledge  ourselves  to 
make,  with  untiring  zeal,  every  honorable  effort  to  secure  the  election  of  a 
candidate  who  has  boldly  identified  himself  with  the  cause  of  Truth,  Peace, 
Justice,  the  Liberties  of  the  North,  and  the  Rights  of  Man." 

On  this  resolution  Mr.  Sumner  made  the  speech  given  below.  He 
was  followed  by  Hon.  C.  F.  Adams,  who  reviewed  the  Anti-Slavery  pol 
icy  pursued  for  several  years  by  the  Massachusetts  Legislature,  and  the 
obstacles  they  encountered. 

At  the  election,  which  took  place  on  Monday,  November  9th,  the  vote 
was  as  follows:  Winthrop  (Whig),  5,980  ;  Howe  (Anti-Slavery),  1,334; 
Homer  (Democrat),  1,688  ;  Whiton  (Independent),  331. 

ME.  CHAIRMAN,  — When,  in  the  month  of  July, 
1830,  the  people  of  Paris  rose  against  the  arbi 
trary  ordinances  of  Charles  the  Tenth,  and,  after  three 
days  of  bloody  contest,  succeeded  in  that  Revolution 
which  gave  the  dynasty  of  Orleans  to  the  throne  of 
France,  Lafayette,  votary  of  Liberty  in  two  hemispheres, 


334  SLAVERY   AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement,  made  his 
way  on  foot  to  the  City  Hall,  through  streets  impassable 
to  carriages,  filled  with  barricades,  and  strewn  with 
wrecks  of  war.  Moving  along  with  a  thin  attendance, 
he  was  unexpectedly  joined  by  a  gallant  Bostonian,  who, 
though  young  in  life,  was  already  eminent  by  seven 
years  of  disinterested  service  in  the  struggle  for  Gre 
cian  independence  against  the  Turks,  who  had  listened 
to  the  whizzing  of  bullets,  and  narrowly  escaped  the 
descending  scimitar.  Lafayette,  considerate  as  brave, 
turned  to  his  faithful  friend,  and  said,  "  Do  not  join 
me ;  this  is  a  danger  for  Frenchmen  only ;  reserve  your 
self  for  your  own  country,  where  you  will  be  needed." 
Our  fellow-citizen  heeded  him  not,  but  continued  by  his 
side,  sharing  his  perils.  That  Bostonian  was  Dr.  Howe. 
And  now  the  words  of  Lafayette  are  verified.  He  is 
needed  by  his  country.  At  the  present  crisis,  in  our 
Revolution  of  "  Three  Days,"  he  conies  forward  to  the 
post  of  danger. 

I  do  not  disguise  the  satisfaction  I  shall  feel  in  vot 
ing  for  him,  beyond  even  the  gratification  of  personal 
friendship,  because  he  is  not  a  politician.  His  life  is 
thickly  studded  with  labors  in  the  best  of  all  causes, 
the  good  of  man.  He  is  the  friend  of  the  poor,  the 
blind,  the  prisoner,  the  slave.  Wherever  there  is  suf 
fering,  there  his  friendship  is  manifest.  Generosity, 
disinterestedness,  self-sacrifice,  and  courage  have  been 
his  inspiring  sentiments,  directed  by  rare  sagacity  and 
intelligence  ;  and  now,  wherever  Humanity  is  regarded, 
wherever  bosoms  beat  responsive  to  philanthropic  effort, 
his  name  is  cherished.  Such  a  character  reflects  lustre 
upon  the  place  of  his  birth,  far  more  than  if  he  had 
excelled  only  in  the  strife  of  politics  or  the  servitude 
of  party. 


SLAVERY   AND   THE   MEXICAN   WAR.  335" 

He  has  qualities  which  especially  commend  him  at 
this  time.  He  is  firm,  ever  true,  honest,  determined,  a 
lover  of  the  Right.  With  a  courage  that  charms  oppo 
sition,  he  would  not  fear  to  stand  alone  against  a  fervid 
majority.  Knowing  war  by  fearful  familiarity,  he  is 
an  earnest  defender  of  peace.  With  a  singular  experi 
ence  of  life  in  other  countries,  he  now  brings  the  stores 
he  has  garnered  up,  and  his  noble  spirit,  to  the  service 
of  his  fellow-citizens. 

But  we  are  assembled  to-night  less  to  consider  his 
praises  —  grateful  as  these  would  be  to  me,  who  claim 
him  as  friend — than  to  examine  the  principles  now 
in  issue.  Not  names,  but  principles,  are  now  in  issue. 
Proud  as  we  may  be  of  our  candidate,  we  feel,  and  he 
too  feels,  that  his  principles  on  the  grave  questions  now 
pending  are  his  truest  recommendation. 

In  examining  these  questions,  I  shall  regard  those 
only  which  are  put  in  issue  by  the  Whigs.  It  is  with 
the  Whigs  that  I  have  heretofore  acted,  and  may  here 
after  act,  —  always  confessing  loyalty  to  principles 
above  any  party. 

The  Resolutions  of  the  recent  Whig  State  Convention 
present  five  different  questions,  with  the  opinions  of  the 
party  thereupon.  These  are  the  Veto  of  the  President, 
the  Sub-Treasury,  the  Tariff,  Slavery,  and  the  Mexican 
War.  Now,  of  these  five  questions,  it  will  not  be  dis 
guised  that  the  last  two  are  the  most  important.  Slavery 
is  a  wrong  which  justice  and  humanity  alike  condemn. 
The  Mexican  War  is  an  enormity  born  of  Slavery. 
Viewed  as  a  question  of  dollars  and  cents,  it  over 
shadows  the  others  ;  while  the  blackness  of  its  guilt 
compels  them  to  the  darkness  of  a  total  eclipse.  Base 
in  object,  atrocious  in  beginning,  immoral  in  all  its 


336  SLAVERY  AND   THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

influences,  vainly  prodigal  of  treasure  and  life ;  it  is  a 
war  of  infamy,  which  must  blot  the  pages  of  our  his 
tory.  No  success,  no  bravery,  no  victory  can  change 
its  character.  Vainly  will  our  flag  wave  in  triumph 
over  twenty  fields.  Shame,  and  not  glory,  will  attend 
our  footsteps,  while,  in  the  spirit  of  a  bully,  we  em 
ploy  superior  resources  of  wealth  and  numbers  in  carry 
ing  death  and  devastation  to  a  poor,  distracted,  long  af 
flicted  sister  republic.  Without  disparaging  the  other 
questions,  every  just  and  humane  person  will  recognize 
Slavery  and  the  Mexican  War  as  paramount  to  all  else, 
—  so  much  so,  that  whoever  is  wrong  on  these  must  be 
so  entirely  wrong  as  not  to  deserve  the  votes  of  Mas 
sachusetts  men. 

The  Whig  Convention  has  furnished  a  rule  or  meas 
ure  of  opinion.  £Jt  has  expressly  pledged  the  WTiigs  "  to 
promote  all  constitutional  measures  for  the  overthrow 
of  Slavery,  and  to  oppose  at  all  times,  with  uncompro 
mising  zeal  and  firmness,  any  further  addition  of  slave- 
holding  States  to  this  Union,  out  of  whatever  territory 
formed."  The  Mexican  War  it  has  denounced  as  hav 
ing  its  origin  in  an  invasion  of  Mexico  by  our  trooptTJ 

Now  on  these  subjects  Dr.  Howe's  opinions  are  clear 
and  explicit  He  is  an  earnest,  hearty,  conscientious  op 
ponent  of  Slavery,  and  in  his  speech  at  your  former 
meeting  he  denounced  the  injustice  of  the  Mexican  War, 
and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  demanded  the  instant 
retreat  of  General  Taylor's  troops  to  the  Nueces. 

And  this  brings  me  to  Mr.  Winthrop.  Here  let  me 
carefully  disclaim  any  sentiment  except  of  kindness 
towards  him  as  a  citizen.  It  is  of  Mr.  Winthrop  the 
politician  that  I  speak,  and  not  of  Mr.  Winthrop  the 
honorable  gentleman. 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   MEXICAN  WAR.  337 

And,  first,  what  may  we  expect  from  him  against 
Slavery  ?  Will  he  promote  all  constitutional  measures 
for  its  overthrow  ?  Clearly  one  of  these  is  the  Abolition 
of  Slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  This  is  within 
the  constitutional  powers  of  Congress,  and  has  been  called 
for  expressly  by  our  State.  It  has  sometimes  occurred 
to  me  that  Slavery  in  our  country  is  like  the  image  in 
Nebuchadnezzar's  dream,  whose  feet  of  clay  are  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  where  they  may  be  shivered  by 
Congressional  legislation,  directed  by  an  enlightened 
Northern  sentiment,  so  that  the  whole  image  shall  tum 
ble  to  the  earth.  Other  measures  against  Slavery  are 
sanctioned  by  the  Massachusetts  Whigs,  and  by  the  Le 
gislature  of  our  State,  in  formal  resolutions,  duly  trans 
mitted  to  Washington.  I  have  never  heard  of  Mr. 
Winthrop's  voice  for  any  of  these, —  nor,  judging  by  the 
past,  have  I  any  reason  to  believe  that  he  will  support 
them  earnestly.  On  these  important  points  he  fails,  if 
tried  by  Whig  standards. 

Will  he  oppose,  at  all  times,  without  compromise,  any 
further  addition  of  slaveholding  States  ?  Here  again,  if 
we  judge  him  by  the  past,  he  is  wanting.  None  can 
forget  that  in  1845,  on  the  Fourth  of  July,  a  day  ever 
sacred  to  memories  of  Freedom,  in  a  speech  at  Faneuil 
Hall,  he  volunteered,  in  advance  of  any  other  Northern 
Whig,  to  receive  Texas  with  a  welcome  into  the  family 
of  States,  although  on  that  very  day  she  was  preparing 
a  Constitution  placing  Slavery  beyond  the  reach  of  legis 
lative  change. 

The  conclusion  is  irresistible,  that  Mr.  Winthrop  can 
not  fitly  represent  the  feeling  palpitating  in  Massachu 
setts  bosoms,  and  so  often  expressed  by  our  Legislature, 
with  regard  to  Slavery. 

VOL.   I.  15  V 


338  SLAVERY  AND   THE  MEXICAN  WAB. 

"What  may  we  expect  from  him  as  to  the  Mexican  War? 
This  brings  me  to  a  melancholy  inquiry,  on  which  I  am 
the  less  disposed  to  dwell  because  it  has  already  been  so 
fully  considered.  Will  he  ascend  to  the  heights  of  a 
true  civilization,  and,  while  branding  the  war  as  unjust, 
call  at  once  for  its  cessation,  and  the  withdrawal  of  our 
forces  ?  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  will.  He 
voted  for  the  Act  of  Congress  under  which  it  is  now 
waged,  and  by  that  disastrous  vote  made  his  constitu 
ents  partakers  in  a  wicked  and  bloody  war.  At  a  later 
day,  in  an  elaborate  speech,1  he  vindicated  his  action,  and 
promised  "  not  to  withhold  his  vote  from  any  reasonable 
supplies  which  may  be  called  for  "  in  the  prosecution  of 
the  war, —  adding,  that  he  should  vote  for  them  "  to  en 
able  the  President  to  achieve  that  Jionorable  peace  which 
he  has  solemnly  promised  to  bring  about  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment"  by  the  sword.  And,  pray,  what  is 
Mr.  "Winthrop's  idea  of  an  "honorable  peace"?  Is  it 
peace  imposed  upon  a  weak  neighbor  by  brute  force,  the 
successful  consummation  of  unrighteous  war  ?  Is  it  the 
triumph  of  wrong?  Is  it  the  Saturnalia  of  Slavery? 
Is  it  the  fruit  of  sin  ?  Is  it  a  baptism  of  blood  unjustly 
shed  ?  In  the  same  speech,  with  grievous  insensibility  to 
the  sordid  character  of  the  suggestion,  he  pleads  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  old  Tariff,  as  necessary  to  meet  "  the 
exigencies  "  of  the  Mexican  War.  "  In  a  time  of  war, 
like  the  present,  more  especially,"  he  says,  "  an  ample 
revenue  should  be  the  primary  aim  and  end  of  all  our 
eattom-house  duties"  Perish  manufactures,  let  me  rather 
say,  if  the  duties  by  which  they  seem  to  be  protected 
are  swollen  to  feed  "  the  exigencies "  of  unjust  war  I 
Afterwards,  at  Faneuil  Hall,  before  the  Whig  Conven- 

1  Speech  on  the  Tariff,  Jane  26, 1846. 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   MEXICAN  WAR.  339 

tion,  he  shows  a  similar  insensibility.  Nowhere  does  he 
sound  the  word  Duty.  Nowhere  does  he  tell  his  country 
to  begin  by  doing  right.  Nowhere  does  he  give  assur 
ance  of  aid  by  calling  for  the  instant  stay  of  the  war. 

There  are  those  who,  admitting  that  his  vote  was  a 
mistake,  say  that  we  are  not  to  judge  him  on  this  account. 
Can  we  afford  to  send  a  representative  who  can  make 
such  a  mistake  ?  But  it  is  a  mistake  never  by  him 
acknowledged  as  such.  It  is  still  persisted  in,  and 
hugged.  Among  the  last  words  of  warning  from  the 
lips  of  Chatham,  as  he  fell  at  his  post  in  the  British 
Senate,  almost  his  dying  words,  were  "against  co-opera 
tion  with  men  who  still  persist  in  unretracted  error." 

In  his  vote  for  the  Mexican  War  Mr.  Winthrop  was 
not  a  Whig.  He  then  left  the  party :  for  surely  the 
party  is  not  where  numbers  prevail,  but  where  its  prin 
ciples  are  recognized.  The  true  Whigs  are  the  valiant 
minority  of  fourteen.  Once  in  Roman  history,  the  ves 
tal  fire,  the  archives,  the  sacred  volumes  of  the  Republic, 
were  in  the  custody  of  a  single  individual,  in  a  humble 
vehicle,  fleeing  from  the  burning  city.  With  him  was 
the  life  of  the  Republic.  So  in  that  small  minority  was 
the  life  of  the  Whig  party,  with  its  principles  and  its 
sacred  fire. 

The  true  Whig  ground,  the  only  ground  consistent 
with  professed  loyalty  to  the  sentiment  of  duty,  is  un 
compromising  opposition  to  the  war,  wheresoever  and 
howsoever  opposition  may  be  made.  Expecting  right 
from  Mexico,  we  must  begin  by  doing  right.  We  are 
aggressors,  and  must  cease  to  be  so. 

This  is  the  proper  course,  having  its  foundations  in 
immutable  laws.  Let  me  repeat,  that  our  country  must 
do  as  an  individual  in  like  circumstances.  For,  though 


340  SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN   WAR. 

politicians  may  disown  it,  there  is  but  one  rule  for  na 
tions  and  for  individuals.  If  any  one  of  you,  fellow- 
citizens,  finding  yourself  in  dispute  with  a  neighbor,  had 
unfortunately  felled  him  to  earth,  but,  with  returning 
reason,  discovered  that  you  were  wrong,  what  would  you 
do  ?  Of  course,  cease  instantly  from  wrong-doing.  You 
would  help  your  neighbor  to  his  feet,  and  with  awaken 
ed  benevolence  soothe  his  wounded  nature.  Precisely 
so  must  our  country  do  now.  Tliis  can  be  only  by 
the  withdrawal  of  our  forces.  Peace  would  then  fol 
low.  The  very  response  sent  to  the  Eoman  Senate 
by  a  province  of  Italy  might  be  repeated  by  the  Mex 
icans  :  "  The  Romans,  having  preferred  justice  to  con 
quest,  have  taught  us  to  be  satisfied  with  submission 
instead  of  liberty." 

That  I  may  not  found  these  conclusions  upon  general 
principles  only,  I  would  invoke  the  example  of  English 
Whigs,  Chatham,  Camden,  Burke,  Fox,  and  Sheridan, 
in  opposition  to  the  war  of  our  Revolution,  —  denoun 
cing  it  at  the  outset  as  unjust,  and  ever,  during  its 
whole  progress,  declaring  their  condemnation  of  it, — 
voting  against  supplies  for  its  prosecution,  and  against 
thanks  for  the  military  services  by  which  it  was  waged. 
Holding  their  example  as  of  the  highest  practical  au 
thority  on  the  present  question,  and  as  particularly  fit 
to  be  regarded  by  all  professing  to  be  Whigs  in  America, 
I  make  no  apology  for  introducing  the  authentic  evidence 
which  places  it  beyond  doubt.  This  is  to  be  found  in 
the  volumes  of  the  Parliamentary  Debates.  I  am  not 
aware  that  it  has  ever  before  been  applied  to  the  present 
discussion,  although  it  is  in  every  word  especially  ap 
plicable. 

1  begin  with  that  famous  instance  where  two  officers 


SLAVERY  AND   THE  MEXICAN  WAR.  341 

—  one  the  son  of  Lord  Chatham,  and  the  other  the  Earl 
of  Effingham  —  flung  up  their  commissions  rather  than 
fight  against  constitutional  liberty  as  upheld  by  our 
fathers.  In  the  case  of  the  latter  especially  the  sacri 
fice  was  great ;  for  he  was  bred  to  arms,  and  enjoyed  the 
service.  From  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords,  May 
18,  1775,  he  vindicated  his  act  in  the  following  terms. 

"  Ever  since  I  was  of  an  age  to  have  any  ambition  at  all,  my 
highest  has  been  to  serve  my  country  in  a  military  capacity. 
If  there  was  on  earth  an  event  I  dreaded,  it  was  to  see  this 
country  so  situated  as  to  make  that  profession  incompatible 
with  my  duty  as  a  citizen.  That  period  is  in  my  opinion 

arrived When  the  duties  of  a  soldier  and  a  citizen 

become  inconsistent,  I  shall  always  think  myself  obliged  to 
sink  the  character  of  the  soldier  in  that  of  the  citizen,  till 
such  time  as  those  duties  shall  again,  by  the  malice  of  our 
real  enemies,  become  united." 

These  generous  words  found  an  echo  at  the  time.  A 
note  in  the  Parliamentary  History  says,  "  The  Twenty- 
second  Regiment  of  Foot,  in  which  he  held  a  captain's 
commission,  being  ordered  to  America,  he  resolved, 
though  not  possessed  of  an  ample  patrimony,  to  resign  a 
darling  profession,  and  all  hopes  of  advancement,  rather 
than  bear  arms  in  a  cause  he  did  not  approve  "  ;  and  the 
record  proceeds  to  say  that  "  the  cities  of  London  and 
Dublin  voted  him  their  thanks  for  this  conduct." 1  If  a 
soldier  could  bear  testimony  against  an  unjust  war,  it 
was  easy  for  others  not  under  the  constraint  of  martial 
prejudice  to  do  so.  The  sequel  shows  how  the  example 
prevailed. 

First  came  the  famous  Duke  of  Grafton,  who,  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  on  the  Address  of  Thanks,  October  26, 

1  Vol.  XVIII.,  col.  688.  See  also  Annual  Register  for  1776,  Vol.  XIX.  p.  42]. 


342  SLAVERY  AND   THE  MEXICAN   WAB. 

1775,  after  the  Battles  of  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill, 
said :  — 

"  I  pledge  myself  to  your  Lordships  and  my  country,  that, 
if  necessity  should  require  it,  and  my  health  not  otherwise 
permit  it,  I  mean  to  come  down  to  this  House  in  a  litter,  in 
order  to  express  my  full  and  hearty  disapprobation  of  the 
measures  now  pursuing,  and,  as  I  understand  from  the  noble 
Lords  in  office,  meant  to  be  pursued.  I  do  protest  to  your 
Lordships,  that,  if  my  brother  or  my  dearest  friend  were  to 
be  affected  by  the  vote  I  mean  to  give  this  evening,  I  could 
not  possibly  resist  the  faithful  discharge  of  my  conscience 
and  my  duty.  Were  I  to  lose  my  fortune  and  every  other 
thing  I  esteem,  were  I  to  be  reduced  to  beggary  itself,  the 
strong  conviction  and  compulsion  at  once  operating  on  my 
mind  and  conscience  would  not  permit  me  to  take  any  other 
part  on  the  present  occasion  than  that  I  now  mean  to  adopt." 

A  protest  at  the  close  of  this  debate  was  signed 
by  several  peers,  containing  the  following  emphatic 
clause:  — 

"  Because  we  cannot,  as  Englishmen,  as  Christians,  or  as 
men  of  common  humanity,  consent  to  the  prosecution  of  a 
cruel  civil  war,  so  little  supported  by  justice,  and  so  very  fa 
tal  in  its  necessary  consequences,  as  that  which  is  now  wag 
ing  against  our  brethren  and  fellow-subjects  in  America." 

This  was  echoed  in  the  House  of  Commons,  where, 
on  the  same  Address,  Mr.  Wilkes  said :  — 

"  I  call  the  war  with  our  brethren  in  America  an  unjust, 

felonious  war I  assert  that  it  is  a  murderous  war, 

because  it  is  an  effort  to  deprive  men  of  their  lives  for  stand 
ing  up  in  the  just  cause  of  the  defence  of  their  property  and 
their  clear  rights.  It  becomes  no  less  a  murderous  war  with 
respect  to  many  of  our  fellow-subjects  of  this  island ;  for 
every  man,  either  of  the  navy  or  army,  who  has  been  sent 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   MEXICAN  WAR.  343 

by  Government  to  America,  and  fallen  a  victim  in  this  un 
natural  and  unjust  contest,  has  in  my  opinion  been  mur 
dered  by  Administration,  and  his  blood  lies  at  their  door. 
Such  a  war,  I  fear,  Sir,  will  draw  down  the  vengeance  of 
Heaven  upon  this  devoted  kingdom." 

Mr.  Fox  expressed  himself  as  follows  :  — 

"  He  could  not  consent  to  the  bloody  consequences  of  so  silly 
a  contest  about  so  silly  an  object,  conducted  in  the  silliest 
manner  that  history  or  observation  had  ever  furnished  an 
instance  of,  and  from  which  we  were  likely  to  derive  nothing 
but  poverty,  misery,  disgrace,  defeat,  and  ruin." 

He  was  followed  by  the  eminent  lawyer,  Serjeant 
Adair :  — 

"  I  am  against  the  present  war,  because  I  think  it  unjust  in 
its  commencement,  injurious  to  both  countries  in  its  prose 
cution,  and  ruinous  in  its  event I  think,  from  the 

bottom  of  my  soul,  that  the  Colonies  are  engaged  in  a  noble 

and  glorious  struggle Sir,  I  could  not  be  easy  in 

my  own  mind  without  entering  the  strongest  and  most  pub 
lic  protestations  against  measures  which  appear  to  me  to  be 
fraught  with  the  destruction  of  this  mighty  empire.  Iivash 
my  hands  of  the  blood  of  my  fellow-subjects,  and  shall  at 
least  have  this  satisfaction,  amidst  the  impending  calamities 
of  the  public,  not  only  to  think  that  I  have  not  contributed 
to,  but  that  I  have  done  all  in  my  power  to  oppose  and  avert, 
the  ruin  of  my  country." 

During  another  debate  in  the  Lords,  November  15, 
1775,  that  strenuous  friend  of  freedom  and  upholder 
of  Whig  principles,  Lord  Camden,  declared  himself 
thus :  — 

"  Peace  is  still  within  our  power ;  nay,  we  may  command 
it.  A  suspension  of  arms  on  our  part,  if  adopted  in  time, 
will  secure  it  for  us,  and,  I  may  add,  on  our  own  terms. 


344  SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR 

From  which  it  it  plain,  as  we  have  been  the  original  aggressors 
in  this  business,  if  we  obstinately  persist,  we  are  fairly  answer 
able  for  all  the  consequences.  I  again  repeat,  what  I  often 
urged  before,  that  I  was  against  this  unnatural  war  from 
the  beginning.  I  was  equally  against  every  measure,  from 
the  instant  the  first  tax  was  proposed  to  this  minute. 
When,  therefore,  it  is  insisted  that  we  aim  only  to  defend 
and  enforce  our  own  rights,  I  positively  deny  it.  I  contend 
that  America  has  been  driven  by  cruel  necessity  to  defend 
her  rights  from  the  united  attacks  of  violence,  oppression, 
and  injustice.  I  contend  that  America  has  been  indisputably 
aggrieved.  ....  I  must  still  think,  and  shall  uniformly 
continue  to  assert,  that  Great  Britain  was  the  aggressor, 
that  most,  if  not  all,  the  acts  were  founded  in  oppression, 
and  that,  if  I  were  an  American,  I  should  resist  to  the  last 
such  manifest  exertion  of  tyranny,  violence,  and  injustice." 

On  another  occasion,  in  the  Commons,  December  8, 
1775,  Mr.  Fox  expressed  himself  thus  sententiously  :  — 

"  I  have  always  said  that  the  war  carrying  on  against 
the  Americans  is  unjust." 

Again,  in  the  Lords,  March  5,  1776,  the  Earl  of 
Effingham  said :  — 

"  I  never  can  stand  up  in  your  Lordships'  presence  without 
throwing  in  a  few  words  on  the  justice  of  this  unnatural 
war." 

In  the  Commons,  March  11, 1776,  Colonel  Barre",  Mr. 
Burke,  Mr.  Fox,  all  vied  in  eulogy  of  General  Mont 
gomery,  the  account  of  whose  death  before  Quebec  had 
arrived  a  few  days  before. 

The  same  spirit  was  constantly  manifest.  In  the 
Commons,  April  24,  1776,  in  the  debate  on  the  Budget, 
embodying  taxes  to  cany  on  the  war  against  America, 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR.  345 

Mr.  Fox  laid  down  the  constitutional  rule  of  opposition 
to  an  unjust  war. 

"To  the  resolutions  he  should  give  his  flat  negative,  and 
that  not  because  of  any  particular  objections  to  the  taxes 
proposed  (although  there  might  be  a  sufficient  ground  for 
urging  many),  but  because  he  could  not  conscientiously  agree 
to  grant  any  money  for  so  destructive,  so  ignoble  a  purpose  as 
the  carrying  on  a  war  commenced  unjustly,  and  supported  with 
no  other  view  than  to  the  extirpation  of  freedom  and  the  vio 
lation  of  every  social  compact.  THIS  HE  CONCEIVED  TO  BE 

THE    STRICT    LINE  OF   CONDUCT    TO   BE   OBSERVED   BY    A   MEMBER 

OF  PARLIAMENT He  then  painted  the  quarrel  with 

America  as  unjust,  and  the  pursuance  of  the  war  as  blood 
thirsty  and  oppressive." 

Colonel  Barre  followed,  and  adopted  the  phrase  of  Mr. 
Fox,  "giving  his  flat  negative  to  the  resolutions,  as  they 
were  calculated  to  tax  the  subject  for  an  unjust  purpose" 

The  Duke  of  Grafton,  in  the  Lords,  October  31,  1776, 
repeated  the  sentiments  he  had  avowed  at  an  earlier 
day. 

"  He  pledged  himself  to  the  House,  and  to  the  public, 
that,  while  he  had  a  leg  to  stand  on,  he  would  come  down 
day  after  day  to  express  the  most  marked  abhorrence  of  the 
measures  hitherto  pursued,  and  meant  to  be  adhered  to,  in 
respect  to  America." 

On  the  same  night,  in  the  Commons,  Mr.  Fox  ex 
claimed  :  — 

"  The  noble  Lord  who  moved  the  amendment  said  that 
we  were  in  the  dilemma  of  conquering  or  abandoning  Amei'ica. 
If  we  are  reduced  to  that,  I  am  for  abandoning  America" 

In  the  Commons,  November  6,  1776,  Mr.  Burke 
likened  England  to  a  "  cruel  conqueror." 


346  SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

"  You  simply  tell  the  Colonists  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
and  then  you  will  do  just  as  you  please.  Could  the  most 
cruel  conqueror  say  less?  Had  you  conquered  the  Devil 
himself  in  Hell,  could  you  be  less  liberal?" 

Colonel  Barre",  in  the  Commons,  February  10,  1777, 
insisted :  — 

"  America  must  be  reclaimed,  not  conquered  or  subdued. 
Conciliation  or  concession  are  the  only  sure  means  of  either 
gaining  or  retaining  America." 

The  Budget  came  up  again  in  the  Commons,  May  14, 
1777,  when  Mr.  Burke  spoke  nobly:  — 

"  He  was,  and  ever  would  be,  ready  to  support  a  just  war, 
whether  against  subjects  or  alien  enemies  ;  but  where  justice, 
or  a  color  of  justice,  was  wanting,  he  should  ever  be  the  first 
to  oppose  it." 

All  these  declarations  were  crowned  by  Lord  Chatham's 
motion  in  the  Lords,  May  30,  1777,  to  put  a  stop  to 
American  hostilities,  when  he  spoke  so  wisely  and 
bravely. 

"  We  have  tried  for  unconditional  submission  :  try  what 
can  be  gained  by  unconditional  redrew We  are  the  ag 
gressors.  We  have  invaded  them.  We  have  invaded  them 

as  much  as  the  Spanish  Armada  invaded   England 

In  the  sportsman's  phrase,  when  you  have  found  yourselves 
at  fault,  you  must  try  back.  ....  I  shall  no  doubt  hear  it 
objected,  '  Why  should  we  submit  or  concede  1  Has  America 
done  anything,  on  her  part,  to  induce  us  to  agree  to  so  large 
a  ground  of  concession  1 '  I  will  tell  you,  my  Lords,  why  I 
think  you  should.  You  have  been  the  aggressors  from  the 

beginning If,  then,  we  are  the  aggressors,  it  is  your 

Lordships'  business  to  make  the  first  overture.  I  say  again, 
this  country  has  been  the  aggressor.  You  have  made  de 
scents  upon  their  coasts ;  you  have  burnt  their  towns,  plun- 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   MEXICAN   WAR.  347 

dered  their  country,  made  war  upon  the  inhabitants,  con 
fiscated  their  property,  proscribed  and  imprisoned  their 
persons.  /  do  therefore  affirm,  that,  instead  of  exacting  un 
conditional  submission  from  the  Colonies,  we  should  grant 
them  unconditional  redress.  We  have  injured  them ;  we 
have  endeavored  to  enslave  and  oppress  them.  Upon  this 
clear  ground,  instead  of  chastisement,  they  are  entitled  to 
redress." 

Again  Lord  Chatham  broke  out,  November  18,  1777, 
in  words  most  applicable  to  the  present  occasion. 

"  I  would  sell  my  shirt  off  my  back  to  assist  in  proper 
measures,  properly  and  wisely  conducted ;  but  I  would  not 
part  with  a  single  shilling  to  the  present  ministers.  Their 
plans  are  founded  in  destruction  and  disgrace.  It  is,  my 
Lords,  a  ruinous  and  destructive  war  ;  it  is  full  of  danger ;  it 

teems  with   disgrace,  and   must   end  in  ruin If  I 

were  an  American,  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a  foreign 
troop  was  landed  in  my  country,  I  never  would  lay  down 
my  arms  !  —  never  !  —  never  !  —  never  ! " 

The  Duke  of  Richmond,  in  the  Lords,  on  the  same 
occasion,  returned  to  the  charge  in  a  similar  spirit. 

"  Can  we  too  soon  put  a  stop  to  such  a  scene  of  carnage  1 
My  Lords,  I  know  that  what  I  am  going  to  say  is  not  fash 
ionable  language ;  but  a  time  will  come  when  every  one  of 
us  must  account  to  God  for  his  actions,  and  how  can  we 
justify  causing  so  many  innocent  lives  to  be  lost  1 " 

In  the  Commons,  December  5,  1777,  Mr.  Hartley, 
the  constant  friend  of  America,  brought  forward  a 
motion :  — 

"  That  it  is  unbecoming  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  Par 
liament  to  proceed  any  farther  in  the  support  of  this  fruit 
less,  expensive,  and  destructive  war,  more  especially  without 
any  specific  terms  of  accommodation  declared." 


348       SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

The  Marquis  of  Kockingham,  in  the  Lords,  February 
16,  1778,  exclaimed  :  — 

"  He  was  determined  to  serve  his  country  by  making  peace 
at  any  rate" 

At  last,  in  the  Lords,  March  23, 1778,  the  Duke  of 
Richmond  brought  forward  a  motion  for  the  withdrawal 
of  the  forces  from  America. 

'  The  same  question  was  presented  again  in  the  Com 
mons,  November  27,  1780,  on  a  motion  to  thank  General 
Clinton  and  others  for  their  military  services  in  Amer 
ica,  when  Mr.  Wilkes  laid  down  the  true  rule. 

"  I  think  it  my  duty  to  oppose  this  motion,  because  in  my 
idea  every  part  of  it  conveys  an  approbation  of  the  Ameri 
can  War,  —  a  war  unfounded  in  principle,  and  fatal  in  its 

consequences  to  this  country Sir,  I  will  not  thank  for 

victories  which  only  tend  to  protract  a  destructive  war As 

I  reprobate  the  want  of  principle  in  the  origin  of  the  Ameri 
can  War,  I  the  more  lament  all  the  spirited  exertions  of 
valor  and  the  wisdom  of  conduct  which  in  a  good  cause  I 
should  warmly  applaud.  Thinking  as  I  do,  I  see  more  mat 
ter  of  grief  than  of  triumph,  of  bewailing  than  thanksgiv 
ing,  in  this  civil  contest,  and  the  deluge  of  blood  which  has 
overflowed  America.  ....  I  deeply  lament  that  the  lustre 
of  such  splendid  victories  is  obscured  and  darkened  by  the 
want  of  a  good  cause,  without  which  no  war,  in  the  eye  of 
truth  and  reason,  before  God  or  man,  can  be  justified." 

Mr.  Fox  followed  in  similar  strain. 

"He  allowed  the  merits  of  the  officers  now  in  question,  but 
he  made  a  distinction  between  thanks  and  praise.  He  might 
admire  their  valor,  but  he  could  not  separate  the  intention 
from  the  action  ;  they  were  united  in  his  mind  ;  there  they 
formed  one  whole,  and  he  would  not  attempt  to  divide  them." 

Mr.  Sheridan  joined  in  these  declarations. 


SLAVERY  AND   THE   MEXICAN  AVAR.  349 

"  There  were  in  that  House  different  descriptions  of  men 
tvho  could  not  assent  to  a  vote  that  seemed  to  imply  a  recognition 
or  approbation  of  the  American  War" 

All  these  words  are  memorable  from  the  occasion  of 
their  utterance,  from  the  statesmen  who  uttered  them, 
and  from  the  sentiments  avowed.  The  occasion  was 
the  war  of  Great  Britain  upon  our  fathers.  The  states 
men  were  the  greatest  masters  of  political  wisdom  and 
eloquence  that  England  has  given  to  the  world  The 
sentiments  were  all  in  harmony  with  what  I  have  urged 
on  the  present  occasion.  Orators  contended  with  each 
other  in  the  strength  of  their  language.  Lord  Camden 
averred  that  "  Great  Britain  was  the  aggressor."  The 
Duke  of  Graf  ton  declared,  that,  "  while  he  had  a  leg  to 
stand  on,"  he  would  express  his  "  abhorrence  "  of  the  war. 
Chatham  gave  utterance  to  the  same  sentiment  in  one  of 
his  most  magnificent  orations.  And  Wilkes,  Sheridan, 
Fox,  and  Burke  echoed  this  strain,  all  insisting  that  the 
war  was  unjust,  and  must  therefore  be  stopped. 

Thus  far  I  have  quoted  testimony  from  Parliamentary 
debates  on  our  own  Ee volution ;  but  going  farther  back, 
we  find  similar  authority.  When  Charles  the  First  sent 
assistance  to  the  French  against  the  Huguenots  in  Eo- 
chelle,  the  officers  and  men  did  more  than  murmur ;  and 
here  our  authority  is  Hume.  The  commander  of  one 
of  the  ships  "  declared  that  he  would  rather  be  hanged 
in  England  for  disobedience  than  fight  against  his 
brother  Protestants  in  France."1 

They  went  back  to  the  Downs.  Having  received  new 
orders,  they  sailed  again  for  France. 

"  When  they  arrived  at  Dieppe,  they  found  that  they  had 
been  deceived.     Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  commanded  one 
1  Hume,  History  of  England,  Chap.  L. 


350  SLAVERY  AND  THE  MEXICAN  WAIL 

of  the  vessels,  broke  through  and  returned  to  England.  All 
the  officers  and  sailors  of  all  the  other  ships,  notwithstanding 
gnat  offers  made  them  by  the  French,  immediately  deserted. 
One  gunner  alone  preferred  duty  towards  his  king  to  the 
cause  of  religion,  and  he  was  afterwards  killed  in  charging 
a  cannon  before  Rochelle."  * 

The  same  sentiment  prevailed  also  in  the  war  upon 
Spain  by  Cromwell,  when  several  naval  officers,  having 
scruples  of  conscience  with  regard  to  the  justice  of  the 
war,  threw  up  their  commissions  and  retired.  Here 
again  Hume  is  our  authority. 

"  No  commands,  they  thought,  of  their  superiors  could 
justify  a  war  which  was  contrary  to  the  principles  of  natural 
equity,  and  which  the  civil  magistrate  had  no  right  to  order. 
Individuals,  they  maintained,  in  resigning  to  the  public  their 
natural  liberty,  could  bestow  on  it  only  what  they  themselves 
were  possessed  of,  a  right  of  performing  lawful  actions,  and 
could  invest  it  with  no  authority  of.  commanding  what  is 
contrary  to  the  decrees  of  Heaven."2 

Here  again  it  is  soldiers  who  refuse  to  fight  in  unjust 
war. 

Such  is  the  doctrine  of  morals  sanctioned  by  English 
examples.  Such  should  be  the  doctrine  of  an  Ameri 
can  statesman.  If  we  apply  it  to  the  existing  exigen 
cy,  or  try  the  candidates  by  this  standard,  we  find,  that, 
as  Dr.  Howe  is  unquestionably  right,  so  Mr.  Winthrop 
is  too  certainly  wrong.  Exalting  our  own  candidate,  I 
would  not  unduly  disparage  another.  It  is  for  the  sake 
of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged,  by  the  side  of 
which  individuals  dwindle  into  insignificance,  that  we 
now  oppose  Mr.  Winthrop.Fbearing  our  testimony  against 

1  Hume,  History  of  England,  Chap.  L. 
a  IbicL,  Chap.  LXL 


SLAVERY  AND   THE  MEXICAN  WAR.  351 

Slavery  and  the  longer  continuance  of  the  Mexican 
"War,  demanding  the  retreat  of  General  Taylor  and  the 
instant  withdrawal  of  the  American  forces.  Even  if  we 
seem  to  fail  in  this  election,  we  shall  not  fail  in  reality. 
The  influence  of  this  effort  will  help  to  awaken  and 
organize  that  powerful  public  opinion  by  which  this 
war  will  at  last  be  arrested. 

Hang  out,  fellow-citizens,  the  white  banner  of  Peace ; 
let  the  citizens  of  Boston  rally  about  it ;  and  may  it  be 
borne  forward  by  an  enlightened,  conscientious  people, 
aroused  to  condemnation  of  this  murderous  war,  until 
Mexico,  now  wet  with  blood  unjustly  shed,  shall  repose 
undisturbed  beneath  its  foldaTl 


INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

IN  THE  MASSACHUSETTS  REGIMENT  OF  VOLUN 
TEERS  FOR  THE  MEXICAN  WAR. 

ARGUMENT  BEFORE  THE  SUPREME  COURT  OF  MASSACHUSETTS, 
JANUARY,  1847. 


BY  the  Mexican  War  Bill  (approved  May  13,  1846)  the  President 
was  authorized  "  to  call  for  and  accept  the  services  of  any  number  of 
volunteers,  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand,"  and  provision  was  made  for 
their  organization.  The  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  by  proclamation, 
called  for  a  Regiment  in  this  Commonwealth,  which  was  organized  under 
the  Act  of  Congress.  Before  it  had  left  the  Commonwealth,  applica 
tions  for  discharge  were  made  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts 
in  behalf  of  several  persons  repenting  their  too  hasty  enlistment.  At  the 
hearing,  the  proceedings  by  which  the  Regiment  had  been  organized 
were  called  in  question.  Their  validity  was  denied  on  the  ground  that 
the  Act  of  Congress,  in  some  of  its  essential  provisions  concerning 
volunteers,  was  unconstitutional,  —  that  the  enlistments  were  not  in 
conformity  with  the  Act,  — and  also  that  the  militia  laws  of  Massachu 
setts  had  been  fraudulently  used  in  forming  the  regiment.  These 
points,  and  the  further  question,  whether  a  minor  is  bound  by  his  con 
tract  of  enlistment  under  the  Act,  were  argued  by  Mr.  Sunnier,  who 
appeared  as  counsel  for  one  of  the  petitioners.  The  Court  sustained 
the  validity  of  the  proceedings,  but  discharged  the  minors.  —  See  In  Re 
Kimball,  Murray,  and  Stone,  9  Law  Reporter,  500,  where  the  case  is  re 
ported. 

MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  HONORS, 

THIS  cause  has  a  strong  claim  upon  the  careful  con 
sideration  of  the  Court.     It  comes  with  a  trinoda 
ncccssitas,  a  triple  cord,  to  bind  its  judgment.      It  is 
important  as  respects  the  parties,  the  public,  and  the 
principles  involved. 


INVALIDITY   OF   ENLISTMENTS.  353 

To  the  parties,  it  is  one  of  the  highest  questions 
known  to  the  law,  being  a  question  of  human  freedom. 
It  is  proposed  to  hold  the  petitioner  in  the  servitude  of 
the  army  for  an  indefinite  space  of  time,  namely,  "  for 
the  duration  of  the  war  with  Mexico."  During  all  this 
period,  he  will  be  subject  to  martial  law,  and  to  the 
Articles  of  War,  with  the  terrible  penalties  of  desertion. 
He  will  be  under  the  command  of  officers,  at  whose 
word  he  must  move  from  place  to  place  beyond  the  con 
fines  of  the  country,  and  perform  unwelcome  duties,  in 
volving  his  own  life  and  the  lives  of  others. 

To  the  public,  it  is  important,  as  it  is  surely  of  espe 
cial  consequence,  in  whose  hands  is  placed  the  power  of 
life  and  death.  The  soldier  is  vested  with  extraordinary 
attributes.  He  is  at  times  more  than  marshal  or  sheriff. 
He  is  also  surrounded  by  the  law  with  certain  immunities, 
one  of  which  is  exemption  from  imprisonment  for  debt. 

It  is  important  from  the  principles  involved.  These 
are  the  distinctions  between  the  different  kinds  of  mil 
itary  force  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  May, 
1846,  and  the  legality  of  the  enlistments  under  it.  The 
determination  of  these  questions  will  establish  or  annul 
the  immense  and  complex  Volunteer  System  now  set  in 
motion. 

In  a  case  of  such  magnitude,  I  shall  be  pardoned  for 
dwelling  carefully  upon  the  different  questions.  In  the 
course  of  my  argument  I  hope  to  establish  the  following 
propositions. 

First.  That  the  forces  contemplated  by  the  Act  of 
May,  1846,  are  a  part  of  the  "  army  "  of  the  United  States, 
or  its  general  military  force,  and  not  of  the  "  militia." 

Secondly.  That  the  part  of  the  Act  of  Congress  of  1846 


354  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

providing  for  the  officering  of  the  companies  is  uncon 
stitutional,  and  the  proceedings  thereunder  are  void. 

Thirdly.  That  the  present  contract  is  illegal,  inasmuch 
as  it  is  not  according  to  the  terms  of  the  Statute,  which 
prescribes  that  it  shall  be  for  "  twelve  months  or  the 
war,"  whereas  it  is  "  for  the  war  "  only. 

Fourthly.  That  it  is  illegal,  being  entered  into  by  an 
improper  use  of  the  militia  laws  of  Massachusetts,  so  as 
to  be  a  fraud  on  those  laws. 

Fifthly.  That  minors  cannot  be  held  by  contract  of 
enlistment  under  the  present  Act. 

I  shall  now  consider  these  different  propositions. 

First.  The  force  contemplated  by  the  Act  of  May, 
1846,  is  a  part  of  the  army  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
its  general  military  force,  and  not  of  the  militia. 

It  is  called  "  volunteers  "  ;  but  on  inquiry  it  will  ap 
pear  that  it  has  elements  inconsistent  with  militia,  while 
it  wants  elements  essential  to  militia. 

Without  stopping  to  consider  what  these  elements  are, 
it  will  be  proper,  first,  to  consider  the  powers  of  Congress 
over  the  land  forces.  Congress  is  not  omnipotent,  like 
the  British  Parliament.  It  can  do  only  what  is  per 
mitted  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
the  manner  permitted.  We  are,  then,  to  search  the  Con 
stitution. 

Here  we  find  two  different  species  of  land  forces,  and 
only  two.  These  are  "  armies  "  and  "  militia."  There 
is  between  the  two  no  hybrid  or  heteroclite,  —  no  ter- 
t  in  in  quid. 

These  forces  are  referred  to  and  sanctioned  by  the  fol 
lowing  clauses,  and  by  no  others  :  "  The  Congress  shall 
have  power  to  raise  and  support  armies;  to  provide  for 
calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union, 


UNDER   THE   MEXICAN   WAR  BILL.  355 

suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  invasions ;  to  provide 
for  organizing  arming,  and  disciplining  the  militia,  and 
for  governing  such  part  of  them  as  may  be  employed  in 
the  sendee  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States, 
respectively,  tlie  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  author 
ity  of  training  the  militia,  according  to  the  discipline 
prescribed  by  Congress."  (Art.  I.  §  8.)  And  again : 
"The  President  shall  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  tlw  militia 
of  the  several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of 
the  United  States"  (Art.  II.  §  2.) 

It  has  been  ably  argued  by  Mr.  Lanier,  in  the  Virginia 
Assembly,  that  the  distinction  between  army  and  militia 
is,  that  the  first  stands  on  contract  or  voluntary  enlistment, 
and  the  second  on  the  law  compelling  parties  to  serve  ; 
that  this  simple  test  determines  the  character  of  the  ser 
vice,  Did  the  party  enter  voluntarily  or  by  operation  of 
law  ?  If  voluntarily,  then  he  is  in  the  "army  "  ;  if  com- 
pulsorily,  or  by  operation  of  law,  then  he  is  in  the 
"  militia."  This  distinction  is  palpable,  and  is  true,  I 
think,  beyond  question,  with  regard  to  the  "  army  "  and 
"  militia  "  under  existing  laws.  I  am  not  prepared  to 
say  that  Congress,  under  the  clause  authorizing  it  "  to 
raise  and  support  armies,"  may  not,  following  the  example 
of  other  countries,  enforce  a  conscription,  or  levy,  which 
shall  act  compulsorily  throughout  the  country,  being  in 
this  respect  like  the  militia,  although  unlike  it  in  other 
respects.  Such  a  plan  was  recommended  by  Mr.  Monroe, 
when  Secretary  of  War,  October  17,  1814,  who  speaks 
of  it  as  follows. 

"  The  limited  power  which  the  United  States  have  in  or 
ganizing  the  militia  may  be  urged  as  an  argument  against 


356  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

their  right  to  raise  regular  troops  in  the  mode  proposed.  If  any 
argument  could  be  drawn  from  that  circumstance,  I  should 
suppose  that  it  would  be  in  favor  of  an  opposite  conclusion. 
The  power  of  the  United  States  over  the  militia  has  been 
limited,  and  that  for  raising  regular  armies  granted  with 
out  limitation.  There  was,  doubtless,  some  object  in  this 
arrangement.  The  fair  inference  seems  to  be,  that  it  was 
made  on  great  consideration,  —  that  the  limitation  in  the 
first  instance  was  intentional,  the  consequence  of  the  unqual 
ified  grant  of  the  second. 

"  But  it  is  said,  that  by  drawing  the  men  from  the  militia 
service  into  the  regular  army  and  putting  them  under  reg 
ular  officers  you  violate  a  principle  of  the  Constitution  which 
provides  that  the  militia  shall  be  commanded  by  their  own 
officers.  If  this  was  the  fact,  the  conclusion  would  follow. 
But  it  is  not  the  fact  The  men  are  not  drawn  from  the 
militia,  but  from  the  population  of  the  country.  When  they 
enlist  voluntarily,  it  is  not  as  militia-men  that  they  act,  but  as 
citizen*.  If  they  are  drafted,  it  must  be  in  the  same  sense. 
In  both  instances  they  are  enrolled  in  the  militia  corps ; 
but  that,  as  is  presumed,  cannot  prevent  the  voluntary  act 
in  one  instance  or  the  compulsive  in  the  other.  The  whole 
population  of  the  United  States,  within  certain  ages,  belong 
to  these  corps.  If  the  United  States  could  not  form  regular 
armies  from  them,  they  could  raise  none."  * 

If  Mr.  Monroe's  views  are  sound,  the  "  army  "  of  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  the  "  militia,"  may  be  raised 
by  draft.  It  may  consist  of  regulars  and  irregulars. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  powers  of  Congress  on  this 
subject,  it  is  certain  that  there  is  no  legislation  now  in 
force,  providing  for  the  "  army,"  except  by  means  of 
voluntary  enlistment.  The  whole  army  of  the  United 
States  is,  at  present,  an  army  of  volunteers  ;  and  all  per- 

1  NUes'8  Register,  Vol.  VII.  p.  189:  November  6, 1814. 


UNDER  THE   MEXICAN  WAR  BILL.  357 

sons  who  are  volunteers  are  of  the  army,  and  not  of  the 
militia.  To  call  them  volunteers  does  not  take  them 
out  of  the  category  of  the  army,  or  general  military 
force  of  the  United  States. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  militia,  when  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States  as  militia,  are  not  volunteers.  They 
come  by  draft  or  conscription.  This  distinction  is  de 
rived  from  England,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for  so 
much  of  our  jurisprudence,  and  so  many  principles  of 
constitutional  law.  We  find  from  Blackstone  (Vol.  I. 
p.  412),  that  the  English  militia  consists  of  "  the  in 
habitants  of  the  county,  chosen  by  lot  for  three  years." 
They  are  called  "  the  constitutional  security  which  the 
laws  have  provided  for  the  public  peace  and  for  protect 
ing  the  realm  against  foreign  or  domestic  violence";  and 
"  they  are  not  compellable  to  march  out  of  tlieir  counties, 
unless  in  case  of  invasion  or  actual  rebellion  within  the 
realm,  nor  in  any  case  compelldble  to  march  out  of  the 
kingdom"  They  are  " officered  by  the  lord-lieutenant, 
the  deputy-lieutenants,  and  other  principal  landholders, 
under  a  commission  from  the  crown."  It  will  be  ob 
served,  from  this  description,  that  there  are  four  dis 
tinct  elements  in  the  English  militia.  1.  It  is  in  its 
nature  a  draft  or  conscription.  2.  It  is  local  in  its 
character.  3.  It  is  officered  by  persons  in  the  county. 
4.  It  can  be  called  out  only  on  peculiar  exigencies, 
expressly  designated.  In  all  these  respects  it  is  distin 
guishable  from  what  is  called  the  army  of  England. 

Mr.  Burke  somewhere  says  that  nearly  half  of  the 
early  editions  of  Blackstone's  Commentaries  found  their 
way  to  America.  The  framers  of  our  Constitution  were 
familiar  with  this  work,  and  they  have  reproduced  all 
these  four  features  of  the  English  militia,  substituting 


358  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

"  State "  for  "  county,"  and  adopting  even  the  peculiar 
exigencies  when  they  are  compellable  to  march  "  out  of 
the  State."  Thus  following  Blackstone,  they  have  rec 
ognized  an  "  army "  and  a  "  militia,"  without  any  tliird 
or  intermediate  military  body. 

This  same  distinction  between  the  militia  and  army 
was  recognized  by  Mr.  Charles  Turner,  in  the  British 
Parliament,  in  a  speech  on  the  Bill  for  embodying  the 
Militia,  November  2, 1775.  "The  proper  men,"  he  says, 
"  to  recruit  and  supply  your  troops  are  the  scum  and 
outcast  of  cities  and  manufactories :  fellows  who  volun 
tarily  submit  to  be  slaves  by  an  apprenticeship  of  seven 
years  are  the  proper  persons  to  be  military  ones.  But 
to  take  the  honest,  sober,  industrious  fellow  from  the 
plough  is  doing  an  essential  mischief  to  the  community, 
and  laying  a  double  tax."  * 

Let  us  now  apply  these  general  considerations  to  the 
present  case. 

The  Act  of  May,  1846,  recognizes  a  clear  distinction 
between  militia  and  volunteers.  It  authorizes  the  Pres 
ident  "  to  employ  the  militia,  naval,  and  military  forces 
of  the  United  States,  and  to  call  for  and  accept  the  ser 
vices  of  any  number  of  volunteers,  not  exceeding  fifty 
thousand, ....  to  serve  twelve  mouths  after  they  shall 
have  arrived  at  the  place  of  rendezvous,  or  to  the  end  of 
the  war,  unless  sooner  discharged."  The  next  section 
(§  2)  provides  that  "  the  militia,  when  called  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  by  virtue  of  this  Act  or  any 
other  Act,  may,  if  in  the  opinion  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  the  public  interest  requires  it,  be  com 
pelled  to  serve  for  a  ttrm  not  exceeding  six  months  after 
their  arrival  at  the  place  of  rendezvous."  The  ninth 

1  Hansard,  Parl.  Hist,  Vol.  XVIII.  col.  846. 


UNDER  THE   MEXICAN   WAR   BILL.  359 

section  speaks  of  "militia  or  volunteers,"  referring  to 
the  two  distinct  classes. 

Now  on  the  face  of  this  Act  there  are  at  least  two 
distinct  recognitions  that  "volunteers"  are  not  of  the 
militia:  1st,  in  providing  for  the  employment  of  vol 
unteers  and  also  of  militia,  treating  the  two  as  distinct; 
and,  2d,  in  providing  that  the  service  for  volunteers 
shall  be  "  twelve  months  or  the  war,"  while  that  of  the 
militia  is  "  six  months  "  only. 

There  are  other  reasons.  1st,  The  volunteers  do  not 
come  by  draft,  but  by  contract.  2d,  Then,  again,  the 
President  is  expressly  empowered  to  apportion  the  staff, 
field,  and  general  officers  among  the  respective  States 
and  Territories  from  which  the  volunteers  shall  tender 
their  services,  while,  in  the  supplementary  Act  of  June 
26,  major-generals  and  brigadier-generals  are  to  be  ap 
pointed  by  the  President  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  all  of  which,  notwithstanding 
the  sop  to  the  States  in  the  apportionment  provision, 
is  inconsistent  with  the  character  of  militia.  3d,  An 
other  reason  why  these  cannot  be  militia  is,  that  no 
such  exigency  has  occurred  as  authorizes  the  President 
to  call  for  the  militia,  —  as,  for  instance,  "  to  execute  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections,  and  repel  in 
vasions." 

Thus  far  I  have  sought  to  bring  the  proposed  body 
of  volunteers  to  the  touchstone  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States.  Let  us  now  see  how 
they  conform  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  Massachu 
setts. 

1.  By  the  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  the  Gover 
nor  is  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia ;  but  he  can 
not  command  these  volunteers. 


360  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

2.  By  our  State  laws  (Chap.  92,  March  24,  1840)  vol 
unteers  in  the  militia  are  "  to  do  duty  for  five  years " ; 
while  volunteers  under  the  Act  in  question  are  for 
"  twelve  months  or  the  war." 

3.  "  A  uniform  such  as  the  commander-in-chief  shall 
prescribe  "  is  appointed  for  the  volunteer  militia,  while 
volunteers  under  the  Act  are  subject  to  no  such  regula 
tion. 

4.  The  statute  of  1846,  chap.  218,  §  10,  provides  that 
each  company  shall  have  "one  first,  one  second,  one 
third,  and  one  fourth  lieutenant."     Mr.  Secretary  Mar- 
cy's  requisition  (p.  30  of  Mr.  Cushing's  Report1)  allows 
to  each  company  "  one  first  lieutenant  and  two  second 
lieutenants." 

By  provisions  like  these  Massachusetts  has  marked 
her  militia  that  she  may  know  them.  She  tells  them 
how  they  shall  be  apparelled  and  officered.  But  the 
body  now  called  out  is  so  apparelled  and  officered  that 
the  Commonwealth  cannot  recognize  it  as  her  militia. 

It  seems  clear,  that,  in  the  light  of  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  also  of  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  Massachusetts,  this  body  cannot  be  a 
part  of  the  militia. 

But  it  is  suggested  on  the  other  side  that  the  com 
panies  now  raised  may  be  regarded  as  companies  of 
militia  who  volunteer  as  companies  into  the  army  of  the 
United  States ;  and  it  is  urged  that  the  requisitions  of 
the  Constitution  are  complied  with,  inasmuch  as  the 
officers  of  the  regiment  are  commissioned  by  the  Gov 
ernor.  To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  militia  of  the 
Commonwealth  have  certain  specific  duties  detailed  in 
the  statute  on  the  subject  (Chap.  92, 1840).  For  instance 

1  Mass.  House  Doc.  1847,  No.  7. 


UNDER  THE  MEXICAN  WAR  BILL.  361 

(§  23),  three  parades  in  each  year,  and  inspection  on  the 
last  Wednesday  of  May;  (§  24)  an  inspection  and  review 
in  each  year ;  (§  27)  and  particularly  to  aid  the  posse 
comitatus  in  case  of  riot.  These  all  contemplate  that 
they  shall  remain  at  home.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  ques 
tioned,  that,  in  any  of  the  exigencies  mentioned  by  the 
Constitution,  they  may  be  ordered  from  home,  in  the  man 
ner  prescribed  by  the  Constitution  and  laws ;  but  it  cer 
tainly  cannot  be  allowable  for  a  company  of  militia  to 
VOLUNTEER  as  a  company  into  a  service  inconsistent  with 
the  duties  prescribed  by  the  laws  under  which  it  is  estab 
lished.  Adopting  Mr.  Monroe's  distinction,  the  individ 
uals  can  volunteer  as  citizens,  but  not  as  a  company. 

Let  us  try  this  point  by  an  analogy.  The  Common 
wealth  by  its  legislation  (Eev.  Stat.,  chap.  18)  establishes 
companies  of  engine-men,  who  are  to  be  appointed  by 
the  selectmen  of  towns,  to  protect  from  fires.  Is  it 
supposed  that  these  companies  can  volunteer,  as  compa 
nies,  to  enter  the  army  of  the  United  States,  and  go  far 
away  from  the  scene  of  the  duties  for  which  they  were 
established  ?  But  the  companies  of  militia  are  hardly 
less  local  and  home-abiding  in  character  than  the  com 
panies  of  engine-men.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 
they  can  volunteer  as  companies  into  the  "  army  "  of  the 
United  States. 

But  suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  companies 
of  militia,  as  such,  may  volunteer  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  under  the  Act  of  May,  1846,  —  do  they 
continue  to  be  militia  ?  Clearly  not.  They  are  in  no 
wise  subject  to  the  laws  of  Massachusetts.  Her  Gov 
ernor,  who  was  so  unfortunately  prompt  to  put  them  in 
motion,  cannot  recall  them,  although  he  is  Commander- 
in-chief  of  her  militia.  They  have  not  her  uniform. 

VOL.    I.  16 


362  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

Their  officers  are  not  her  officers,  but  officers  of  the 
United  States.  The  corps  has  become  part  of  the  army 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  its  general  military  force. 

And  tliis  is  the  legal  character  of  the  present  Massa 
chusetts  Regiment,  if  it  have  any  legal  character. 

"  If  shape  it  may  be  called,  that  shape  has  none 
Distinguishable  in  member,  joint,  or  limb, 
Or  substance  may  be  called  that  shadow  seems." 

It  is  part  of  the  "  army  "  of  the  United  States,  and  not 
of  the  "  militia." 

Secondly.  It  being  established  that  it  is  not  of  the 
militia,  but  of  the  army,  the  way  is  prepared  for  the 
consideration  of  the  other  questions.  The  first  of  these 
relates  to  the  constitutionality  of  part  of  the  Act  un 
der  which  the  regiment  is  raised.  Looking  at  Captain 
Webster's  return  in  the  present  case,  it  will  be  perceived 
that  he  claims  to  hold  the  petitioner  "because  the  said 
Samuel  A.  Stone  has  been  duly  enrolled  and  enlisted  as 
a  member  of  Company  A  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Mas 
sachusetts  Infantry,  whereof  the  said  Edward  "Webster 
has  been  duly  commissioned  Captain  by  his  Excellency 
the  Governor  of  this  Commonwealth."  On  this  return 
we  have  a  question  of  double  aspect.  1.  Has  Edward 
Webster  a  right  to  detain  the  petitioner  ?  2.  Is  the  pe 
titioner  liable  to  be  detained  by  anybody  ?  It  is  possi 
ble  that  the  petitioner  may  be  liable,  although  Edward 
Webster  has  no  right  to  detain  him.  In  other  words,  he 
may  be  legally  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  "army"  of  the 
United  States,  although  Webster  is  not  a  legal  officer. 

And,  first,  is  Edward  Webster  legally  commissioned 
as  "  an  officer  of  the  United  States "  ?  This  is  an  im- 
pqrtant  question,  which  concerns  the  validity  of  his  acts. 
He  should  be  anxious  to  know  if  he  is  a  legal  officer. 


UNDE£  THE  MEXICAN   WAR  BILL.  363 

that  he  may  not  bear  the  sword  in  vain.  The  attributes 
of  a  military  officer  are  of  a  high  order.  He  has  power 
over  human  life  and  property  to  an  extraordinary  degree. 
He  has  power  at  once  executive  and  judicial ;  he  is  sheriff 
and  judge.  In  these  peculiar  powers  he  is  distinguish 
able  from  common  citizens.  Such  powers  the  Govern 
ment  can  impart,  —  but  only  in  certain  ways  precisely 
prescribed  by  the  Constitution  and  laws,  —  only  consti 
tutionally,  legally,  and  rightfully.  And  the  question 
recurs,  Have  these  powers  been  imparted  in  such  wise 
to  Edward  Webster  ? 

This  is  determined  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  That  instrument  provides  explicitly  the  man 
ner  of  appointing  "officers  of  the  United  States."  It 
says  (Art.  2,  §  2),  "  The  President  shall  nominate,  and 
by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  shall 
appoint,  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and  consuls, 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the 
United  States  whose  appointments  are  not  herein  other 
wise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  established  by 
law ;  but  the  Congress  may  by  law  vest  the  appoint 
ment  of  such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper  in 
the  President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads 
of  departments."  In  the  next  clause  it  declares,  that 
"  the  President  shall  have  power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies 
that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by 
granting  commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of 
their  next  session." 

From  these  clauses  it  appears  that  all  "  officers  of 
the  United  States  "  are  nominated,  and  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  are  appointed,  by  the 
President;  and  it  is  inferred  that  they  are  "commis 
sioned  "  by  the  President. 


364  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

Now  two  questions  arise:  whether  an  officer  in  the 
"  army "  of  the  United  States  is  an  "  officer  of  the 
United  States "  in  the  sense  of  the  Constitution,  and 
whether  he  is  an  "inferior  officer." 

He  is  not  an  "  inferior  officer "  in  the  sense  of  the 
Constitution ;  for  his  appointment  has  never  been  vested 
"  in  the  President  alone,  in  the  courts  of  law,  or  in  the 
heads  of  departments." 

He  is  an  "  officer  of  the  United  States."  In  support 
of  this  is  universal  custom,  which  has  always  treated 
him  as  such,  the  express  action  of  President  Monroe 
and  Congress  in  1821  with  regard  to  the  office  of  Ad 
jutant-General  (3  Story,  Com.  on  Const.  §  1531,  note), 
and  sundry  precedents. 

I  conclude,  therefore,  that  Edward  Webster,  assuming 
to  be  an  "  officer  of  the  United  States,"  but  not  having 
been  "  nominated  by  the  President,  and  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  appointed,"  nor 
being  "commissioned"  by  the  President,  is  not  con 
stitutionally  an  officer  of  the  "army"  of  the  United 
States,  nor  entitled  to  detain  the  petitioner.  He  is 
commissioned  by  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  who 
cannot  give  any  power  in  the  "  army "  of  the  United 
States. 

The  question  next  arises,  whether  any  person  is 
authorized  to  detain  the  petitioner.  Webster  is  not. 
Who  is  ? 

The  petitioner  has  been  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  not  as  an  individual  citizen,  but  as 
a  member  of  the  company  of  which  Webster  assumes  to 
be  captain.  If  the  company  has  no  legal  existence  as 
a  company,  all  the  proceedings  are  void.  But  the  com 
pany  becomes  such  only  through  its  officers.  Until  its 


UNDER   THE   MEXICAN   WAR   BILL.  365 

officers  are  chosen,  it  is  an  embryo,  not  a  legal  body. 
But  its  officers  never  have  been  chosen  in  any  consti 
tutional  way.  The  company  is,  therefore,  still  unborn. 
Or  rather,  to  adopt  the  illustration  of  the  Roman  Tri 
bune,  the  "  belly "  is  produced,  but  the  "  head  and 
hands  "  are  wanting  ;  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  present 
a  complete  body. 

The  conclusion  is,  that  the  petitioner  is  not  liable 
to  be  held  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  This 
stands  upon  the  unconstitutionality  of  that  part  of  the 
law  of  Congress  relating  to  the  peculiar  organization 
of  this  corps. 

This  same  error  Congress  has  committed  before.  The 
Act  of  February  24,  1807  (Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  II. 
p.  419),  provides  for  volunteers  in  companies,  "  whose 
commissioned  officers  shall  be  appointed  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  law  in  the  several  States  and  Territories 
to  which  such  companies  shall  respectively  belong." 
In  the  Act  of  February  6,  1812  (Statutes  at  Large,  VoL 
II.  p.  676),  these  words  are  repeated.  But  at  a  later  day 
it  seems  the  mistake  was  discovered.  By  the  Act  of 
January  27,  1815,  it  is  provided  (§  4)  "  that  the  officers 
of  the  said  volunteers  shall  be  commissioned  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States  " ;  and  also  (§  8)  "  that 
the  appointment  of  the  officers  of  the  said  volunteers, 
if  received  into  the  service  of  the  United  States  for  the 
term  of  twelve  months,  or  for  a  longer  term,  shall  be 
submitted  to  the  Senate,  for  their  advice  and  consent,  at 
their  next  session  after  commissions  for  the  same  shall 
have  been  issued."  This  bill  was  much  considered  in 
Congress.1  Notwithstanding  all  this,  the  same  error  is 
repeated  in  the  Act  of  May,  1846. 

l  See  Niles's  Register,  Vol.  VII.  pp.  813,  333,  352. 


366  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

I  submit,  that  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  Court  to 
declare  the  Act  of  May,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  or 
ganization  of  the  volunteers,  unconstitutional,  and  all 
the  proceedings  under  it  a  nullity. 

TJiirdly.  But  if  the  law  should  be  regarded  as  con 
stitutional,  it  is  further  submitted  that  the  proceedings 
under  it  in  Massachusetts  have  been  illegal  in  two  re 
spects  :  first,  by  the  action  of  the  National  Government ; 
and,  secondly,  by  the  action  of  the  Commonwealth. 

At  present  we  will  consider  the  illegality  on  the  part 
of  the  National  Government. 

The  Act  of  May  provides  for  volunteers  "to  serve 
twelve  months  after  they  shall  have  arrived  at  the  place 
of  rendezvous,  or  to  the  end  of  the  war,  unless  sooner 
discharged."  But  by  the  requisition  of  Mr.  Secretary 
Marcy  they  are  to  serve  "  during  the  war  with  Mexico, 
unless  sooner  discharged,"  which  is  a  different  term 
from  that  in  the  law. 

The  right  to  enlist  soldiers  is  determined  by  the  laws. 
Its  exact  extent  is  measured  there.  It  is  not  dependent 
upon  the  judgment  or  conscience  of  any  Secretary,  —  as 
if  his  foot  were  the  standard  of  physical  measure.  The 
law  expressly  says,  that  the  enlistment  is  to  be  for 
"twelve  months  or  the  war."  Now  it  cannot  have 
been  the  intention  of  Congress  to  obtain  enlistments  for 
the  indefinite  period  of  the  war,  —  for  ten  years,  like  the 
Trojan  War,  or  thirty  years,  like  that  of  Wallenstein,  in 
Germany.  They  wished  to  hold  volunteers  for  twelve 
months,  or  even  for  a  shorter  time,  if  the  war  should  be 
ended  sooner ;  and  at  the  time  of  this  untoward  Act  it 
was  supposed  that  it  would  be  ended  sooner.  The  mili 
tia,  in  this  Act,  are  called  out  for  "  six  months  "  only. 

By  the  Act  of  February  24,  1807  (Statutes  at  Large, 


UNDER  THE   MEXICAN  WAR   BILL.  367 

Vol.  II.  p.  419),  the  volunteers  are  "  for  the  term  of 
twelve  months  after  they  shall  have  arrived  at  the 
place  of  rendezvous,  unless  sooner  discharged  "  ;  and  for 
the  same  term  by  the  Act  of  February  6,  1812  (Vol.  II. 
p.  676).  But  by  the  Act  of  February  24, 1814  (Vol.  III. 
p.  98),  the  term  was  "five  years,  or  during  the  war."  By 
the  Act  of  January  27, 1815  (VoL  III.  p.  193),  the  term 
was  "not  less  than  twelve  months."  By  the  Act  of  Jan 
uary  27,  1814  (VoL  III.  p.  94),  the  term  of  soldiers  in  the 
regular  army  was  "  five  years,  or  during  the  war."  I 
mention  these  precedents,  to  show  that  this  question 
may  have  arisen  before,  although  we  have  no  reports  of 
it  from  any  judicial  tribunal.  But  we  have  the  express 
opinion  of  the  late  Mr.  Justice  Johnson,  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  in  a  note  to  his  elaborate  Life 
of  General  Greene,  written  not  long  after  the  Acts  of 
Congress  to  which  I  have  referred.  It  was  printed  in 
1822.  He  says :  "  The  point  on  which  the  Pennsylvania 
line  really  grounded  their  revolt  was  the  same  which  has 
been  more  recently  much  agitated  between  the  American 
Government  and  its  army.  The  soldiers  were  enlisted 
for  a  certain  number  of  years,  or  the  war.  At  the  ex 
piration  of  the  term  of  years  they  demanded  their  dis 
charge  ;  and  after  resisting  this  just  claim,  and  sustain 
ing  all  the  terrors  and  real  dangers  of  a  revolt,  ....  the 
Government  was  obliged  to  acquiesce.  For  so  many 
I/ears  or  the  war  certainly  meant  for  that  time,  if  the 
war  should  so  long  last.  Else  why  specify  a  term  of 
years  ? — as  enlistments  for  the  war  would  have  expressed 
the  sense  of  the  contracting  parties."  (Vol.  II.  p.  53, 
note.) 

On  the  authority  of  Mr.  Justice  Johnson,  the  question 
seems  to  be  clear.     But  if  there  be  any  doubt,  the  in- 


368  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

clination  must  be  against  the  Government.  They  are 
the  powerful  and  intelligent  party ;  the  soldier  is  power 
less  and  ignorant.  The  Government  are  the  inviting, 
offering,  promising  party.  To  them  applies  the  rule, 
Verba  fortius  accipiuntur  contra  proferentem.1 

But  it  is  said  on  the  other  side,  that  the  "  twelve 
months  "  have  not  yet  expired ;  and  it  does  not  follow 
that  the  volunteers  will  be  detained  beyond  that  period. 
But  the  case  now  is  to  be  judged  on  the  contract.  Is  the 
contract  legal  or  illegal,  under  the  Act  of  Congress  ?  It 
is  submitted  that  it  is  illegal. 

Fourthly.  I  submit  that  the  proceedings  in  Massachu 
setts  under  the  Act  of  March  are  illegal,  inasmuch  as 
they  are  a  fraud  upon  the  militia  laws  of  the  Common 
wealth.  This  brings  me  to  a  part  of  the  case  humiliat 
ing  to  Massachusetts. 

We  have  already  seen  the  purpose  of  these  laws,  con 
templating  the  performance  of  duties  at  home,  —  as,  in 
preserving  the  peace,  and  aiding  the  posse  comitatus. 
These  purposes  are  distinctly  declared  by  the  Legisla 
ture.  (Chap.  92, 1840.)  But  by  the  agency  of  State  of 
ficers  these  laws  have  been  employed —  I  would  say,  pros 
tituted  —  to  a  purpose  widely  different :  not  to  help  pre 
serve  the  peace  at  home,  but  to  destroy  peace  abroad. 
It  appears  from  the  communication  of  the  Adjutant- 
General,  that  he  resorted  to  the  device  or  invention  of 
using  the  militia  laws  of  the  State  in  order  to  enlist 
soldiers  to  make  war  on  Mexico.  The  following  is 
the  form  of  an  application  to  be  organized  as  a  com 
pany  of  the  Massachusetts  militia,  —  the  applicant  ex 
pressly  setting  forth  objects  inconsistent  with  the  duties 
of  the  militia. 

1  Bacon,  Maxims  of  the  Law,  Reg.  III. 


UNDER  THE   MEXICAN  WAR   BILL.  369 

"  CHAKLESTOWN,  January  4,  1847. 

"  To  His  Excellency,  George  N.  Briggs,  Governor  and  Oom- 
mander-in-Chief  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts. 

"  SIR,  —  The  undersigned,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  his  as 
sociates,  whose  names  are  duly  enrolled  therefor,  respectfully 
requests  that  they  may  be  duly  organized  as  a  company,  to 
be  annexed  to  the  First  Regiment  of  Massachusetts  Infantry  : 
it  being  understood,  that,  when  so  organized,  they  desire  and 
assent  to  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  to  serve  during  the  existing  war  with  Mexico.  And  as 
in  duty  bound  will  ever  pray. 

(Signed,)  "  JOHN  S.  BAEKER." 

Thus  the  Executive  of  the  Commonwealth  placed  all 
the  apparatus  and  energy  of  the  Adjutant-General,  and 
of  the  militia  laws,  at  the  service  of  certain  petitioners, 
well  knowing  that  these  persons  were  not  to  enlist  bona 
fide  in  the  honest  militia  of  Massachusetts,  but  with 
the  distinct  understanding  that  they  should  be  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to 
serve  during  the  existing  war  with  Mexico.  I  do  not 
complain  that  the  Governor  or  the  Adjutant-General 
lent  himself  officially  or  personally  to  this  purpose, 
though  I  have  my  regrets  on  this  score ;  but  I  do  com 
plain  that  the  laws  of  Massachusetts  are  prostituted  to 
this  purpose. 

It  has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  Prigg  v.  Pennsylvania  (16  Peters, 
539),  that  State  officers  are  not  obliged  to  enforce  United 
States  laws.  The  Nation  must  execute  its  laws  by  its 
own  officers.  Under  the  lead  of  this  decision,  the  Legis 
lature  of  Massachusetts  passed  a  law  making  it  penal 
for  State  officers  to  arrest  or  detain  in  public  buildings 

16*  x 


370  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

any  person  for  the  reason  that  he  is  claimed  as  a  fugitive 
slave  (Act  of  1843,  Chap.  69),  although  the  Act  of  Con 
gress  of  1793  contemplates  the  action  of  State  officers. 
By  this  legislation  Massachusetts  has  clearly  shown  her 
determination  to  take  advantage  of  the  principle  in 
Prigg's  case.  The  Governor  and  the  Adjutant-General, 
not  heeding  the  spirit  of  our  Commonwealth,  made 
themselves  recruiting  officers  of  the  United  States,  as 
much  as  if  they  had  enlisted  sailors  for  the  ship-of-war 
Ohio,  now  lying  in  our  harbor. 

How  much  soever  this  may  be  deplored,  it  forms  no 
ground  for  any  legal  questioning  of  their  acts.  What 
they  did,  under  the  directions  of  an  Act  of  Congress,  as 
agents  of  the  United  States,  would  be  legal,  provided  it 
was  not  forbidden  by  the  laws  of  the  State.  But  al 
though  they  might  volunteer  as  agents  of  the  United 
States  in  raising  troops  for  the  Mexican  War,  acting 
under  the  law  of  Congress,  they  cannot  employ  the  State 
laws  for  this  purpose.  They  cannot  be  justified  in  di 
verting  the  laws  of  the  State  to  purposes  not  originally 
contemplated  by  these  laws,  and  inconsistent  with  their 
whole  design  and  character.  Such  was  the  employ 
ment  of  the  militia  laws  of  Massachusetts.  These  laws 
have  been  made  by  the  Executive  the  instruments,  the 
"  decoy-ducks,"  to  get  together  the  Falstaff  regiment 
whose  existence  is  now  drawn  in  question.  The  whole 
proceeding  is  a  fraud  on  those  laws. 

It  is  the  duty  of  this  Court,  as  conservators  of  the 
laws  of  the  Commonwealth,  bound  to  see  that  they 
receive  no  detriment,  to  guard  them  from  such  a  per 
version  from  their  true  and  original  purpose.  This  can 
be  done  only  by  annulling  the  proceedings  that  have 
taken  place  under  them. 


UNDER  THE   MEXICAN  WAR  BILL.  371 

Such  are  the  objections  to  the  legal  character  of  the 
Massachusetts  Regiment.  If  either  of  these  should  pre 
vail,  then  the  whole  regiment  is  virtually  dissolved. 
It  becomes  a  mere  name.  Stat  nominis  umbra.  Or  it 
is  left  a  mere  voluntary  association,  without  that  quick 
ening  principle  which  is  necessary  to  a  military  organ 
ization  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  like  the  monster  Frankenstein,  the  crea 
tion  of  audacious  human  hands,  endowed  with  a  human 
form,  but  wanting  a  soul. 

Fifthly.  But  suppose  the  Court  should  hesitate  to 
pronounce  the  nullity  of  these  proceedings,  and  should 
recognize  the  legal  existence  of  the  regiment,  it  then 
becomes  important  to  determine  whether  there  are  any 
special  circumstances  in  the  case  of  the  petitioner  which 
will  justify  his  discharge.  The  party  that  I  represent 
is  a  minor,  and  as  such  entitled  to  his  discharge.  The 
question  on  this  point  I  have  reserved  to  the  last,  be 
cause  I  wished  to  consider  it  after  the  inquiry  whether 
the  regiment  was  a  part  of  the  "  army  "  or  the  "  militia," 
in  order  to  disembarrass  it  of  considerations  that  might 
arise  from  the  circumstance  that  the  militia  laws  em 
brace  minors.  I  assume  now  that  the  regiment,  if  it 
have  any  legal  existence,  is  a  part  of  the  "army." 

The  jurisprudence  of  all  countries  wisely  provides  a 
certain  period  of  majority,  at  which  persons  are  sup 
posed  to  be  able  to  make  contracts.  This  by  the  Com 
mon  Law  is  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

Now  enlistment  in  the  army  of  the  United  States 
is  a  contract.  The  parties  are  volunteers,  and  the  term 
implies  contract.  And  the  question  arises,  whether  this 
contract  is  governed  by  the  Common  Law,  so  as  to  be 
voidable  when  made  by  a  minor.  Is  the  circumstance 


372  INVALIDITY  OF  ENLISTMENTS 

that  the  contract  is  made  with  the  Government  any 
ground  of  exception  ?  If  an  infant  were  to  contract 
with  the  Government  to  sell  a  piece  of  land,  he  would 
not  be  bound  by  it  any  more  than  if  the  contract  were 
with  a  private  person.  Is  the  circumstance  that  the 
contract  is  military  any  ground  of  exception  ?  If  an 
infant  were  to  contract  to  fumish  military  supplies  to 
Government,  he  could  not  be  held  more  than  by  any 
private  individual. 

The  rule  of  the  Common  Law  as  to  the  incapacity  of 
infants  is  specific.  An  exception  to  it  must  be  estab 
lished  by  express  legislation, — as,  in  the  case  of  ca 
pacity  to  make  a  will,  to  marry,  or  to  serve  in  the  mili 
tia.  Congress  has  recognized  this  principle  by  expressly 
declaring,  on  several  occasions,  that  persons  between  the 
ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty-one  may  be  enlisted.  The 
argument  from  this  is  clear,  that  without  express  pro 
vision  such  enlistments  would  not  be  binding.  The  Acts 
of  January  11,  1812  (Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  II.  p.  671), 
and  December  10, 1814  (Ibid.,  Vol.  III.  p.  146),  contain 
such  provisions.  And  we  are  able  from  contemporary 
history  to  ascertain  what  was  the  understanding  con 
cerning  them.  I  refer  particularly  to  Niles's  Register, 
Vol.  III.  p.  207,  and  the  discussion  there  on  the  first 
of  these  Acts ;  also  to  Vol.  VII.  p.  308,  where  will  be 
found  an  important  document  making  this  legislation 
of  Congress  a  special  subject  of  complaint. 

It  is  argued,  however,  that  the  United  States  have  no 
Common  Law,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  governed  by  the 
rules  of  majority  therein  established.  Although  it  may 
be  decided  that  the  United  States  have  no  Common  Law 
as  a  source  of  jurisdiction,  yet  it  cannot  be  questioned 
that  they  have  a  Common  Law  so  far  as  may  be  neces- 


UNDER  THE  MEXICAN  WAK  BILL.  373 

sary  in  determining  the  signification  of  words  and  the 
capacity  of  persons.  Idiots  and  femes-coverts  would 
not  be  held  as  volunteers  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States;  but  their  capacity  is  determined  by  the  Com 
mon  Law,  and  not  by  any  special  legislation. 

I  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  contract  of  enlistment 
in  this  regiment  may  be  avoided  by  a  minor. 

It  may  be  in  the  power  of  the  Court  to  discharge  the 
petitioner  without  passing  upon  all  the  grave  questions 
which  I  have  now  presented.  But  I  confidently  sub 
mit,  that,  if  these  proceedings  are  unconstitutional  and 
illegal,  as  I  have  urged,  if  the  regiment  is  a  nullity, 
as  I  believe,  the  truth  should  be  declared.  The  regi 
ment  is  soon  to  embark  for  foreign  war,  when  its  mem 
bers  will  be  beyond  the  kindly  protection  of  this  Court. 
It  will  be  for  the  Court  to  determine  whether  it  may 
not,  by  a  just  judgment,  vindicate  the  injured  laws  of 
Massachusetts,  and  discharge  many  fellow-citizens  from 
obligations  imposed  in  violation  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  land. 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  AMERICAN  TROOPS 
FROM  MEXICO. 

SPEECH  AT  A  PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  FANEUIL  HALT,,  BOSTON, 
FEBRUARY  4,  1847. 


HON.  Samuel  Greele  presided  at  this  meeting.  The  other  speakers, 
besides  Mr.  Sumner,  were  Rev.  James  Freeman  Clarke,  Hon  John 
M.  Williams,  Rev.  Theodore  Parker,  Elizur  Wright,  and  Dr.  Walter 
Channing.  There  was  interruption  at  times  from  lawless  persons  try 
ing  to  drown  the  voice  of  the  speaker.  One  of  the  papers  remarks,  that 
"  a  number  of  the  volunteers  were  among  the  most  active." 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  FELLOW-CITIZENS,  — 

IN  the  winter  of  1775,  five  years  after  what  was  called 
the  "  massacre  "  in  King  Street,  now  State  Street,  a 
few  months  only  before  the  Battles  of  Lexington  and 
Bunker  Hill,  Boston  was  occupied  by  a  British  army  un 
der  General  Gage,  —  as  Mexican  Monterey,  a  town  not 
far  from  the  size  of  Boston  in  those  days,  is  now  occu 
pied  by  American  troops  under  General  Taylor.  The 
people  of  Boston  felt  keenly  all  the  grievance  of  this 
garrison,  holding  the  control  of  Massachusetts  Bay  with 
iron  hand.  With  earnest  voice  they  called  for  its  with 
drawal,  as  the  beginning  of  reconciliation  and  peace. 
Their  remonstrances  found  unexpected  echo  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  when  Lord  Chatham,  on  the  20th  of  January, 
brought  forward  his  memorable  motion  for  the  with 
drawal  of  the  troops  from  Boston.  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr., 
dear  to  Bostonians  for  his  own  services,  and  for  the  ser 
vices  of  his  descendants  in  two  generations,  was  present 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  TROOPS   FROM  MEXICO.  375 

on  this  occasion,  and  has  preserved  an  interesting  and 
authentic  sketch  of  Lord  Chatham's  speech.  From  his 
report  I  take  the  following  important  words. 

"  There  ought  to  be  no  delay  in  entering  upon  this  matter. 
We  ought  to  proceed  to  it  immediately.  We  ought  to  seize  the 
first  moment  to  open  the  door  of  reconciliation.  The  Ameri 
cans  will  never  be  in  a  temper  or  state  to  be  reconciled,  — 
they  ought  not  to  be,  —  till  the  troops  are  withdrawn.  The 
troops  are  a  perpetual  irritation  to  these  people ;  they  are  a  bar 
to  all  confidence  and  all  cordial  reconcilement.  I,  therefore, 
my  Lords,  move,  '  That  an  humble  address  be  presented  to 
His  Majesty,  most  humbly  to  advise  and  beseech  His  Majesty, 
that,  in  order  to  open  the  way  towards  an  happy  settlement 
of  the  dangerous  troubles  in  America,  by  beginning  to  allay 
ferments  and  soften  animosities  there,  and  above  all  for  pre 
venting  in  the  mean  time  any  sudden  and  fatal  catastrophe 
at  Boston,  now  suffering  under  the  daily  irritation  of  an  army 
before  their  eyes,  posted  in  their  town,  it  may  graciously 
please  His  Majesty  that  immediate  orders  may  be  despatched 
to  General  Gage  for  removing  His  Majesty's  forces  from  the 
town  of  Boston,  as  soon  as  the  rigor  of  the  season,  and  other 
circumstances  indispensable  to  the  safety  and  accommodation 
of  the  said  troops,  may  render  the  same  practicable.'  "  * 

It  is  to  promote  a  similar  measure  of  justice  and  recon 
ciliation  that  we  are  now  assembled.  Adopting  the  lan 
guage  of  Chatham,  we  ask  the  cessation  of  this  unjust  war, 
and  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  forces  from  Mex 
ico,  "as  soon  as  the  rigor  of  the  season,  and  other  circum 
stances  indispensable  to  the  safety  and  accommodation 
of  the  said  troops,  may  render  the  same  practicable." 

It  is  hoped  that  this  movement  will  extend  throughout 
the  country,  but  it  is  proper  that  it  should  begin  here. 
Boston  herself  in  former  times  suffered.  The  war-horse 

1  Life  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  p.  820. 


376  WITHDRAWAL   OF  TBOOPS  FROM  MEXICO. 

was  stalled  in  one  of  her  most  venerable  churches.  Her 
streets  echoed  to  the  tread  of  hostile  troops.  Her  inhabi 
tants  were  waked  by  the  morning  drum-beat  of  oppressors. 
On  their  own  narrow  peninsula  they  have  seen  the  smoke 
of  an  enemy's  camp.  Though  these  things  are  beyond  the 
memory  of  any  in  this  multitude,  yet  faithful  History 
has  entered  them  on  her  record,  so  that  they  can  never 
be  forgotten.  It  is  proper,  then,  that  Boston,  mindful  of 
the  past  and  of  her  own  trials,  mindful  of  her  own  plead 
ings  for  the  withdrawal  of  the  British  troops,  as  the  be 
ginning  of  reconciliation,  should  now  come  forward  and 
ask  for  others  what  she  once  so  earnestly  asked  for  herself. 
It  is  proper  that  Boston  should  confess  her  obligations  to 
the  generous  eloquence  of  Chatham,  by  vindicating  his 
arguments  of  policy,  humanity,  and  justice,  in  their  ap 
plication  to  the  citizens  of  a  sister  Republic.  Franklin, 
in  dispensing  a  charity,  said  to  the  receiver,  "  When  you 
are  able,  return  this,  —  not  to  me,  but  to  some  one  in 
need,  like  yourself  now."  In  the  same  spirit,  Boston 
should  now  repay  her  debt  by  insisting  on  the  with 
drawal  of  the  American  troops  from  Mexico. 

Other  considerations  call  upon  her  to  take  the  lead. 
Boston  has  always  led  the  generous  actions  of  our  his 
tory.  Boston  led  the  cause  of  the  Revolution.  Here  com 
menced  that  discussion,  pregnant  with  independence, 
which,  at  first  occupying  a  few  warm,  but  true  spirits  only, 
finally  absorbed  all  the  best  energies  of  the  continent,  the 
eloquence  of  Adams,  the  patriotism  of  Jefferson,  the 
wisdom  of  Washington.  Boston  is  the  home  of  noble 
charities,  the  nurse  of  true  learning,  the  city  of  churches. 
By  all  these  tokens  she  stands  conspicuous ;  and  other 
parts  of  the  country  are  not  unwilling  to  follow  her  ex 
ample.  Athens  was  called  "  the  eye  of  Greece."  Boston 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  TROOPS  FROM  MEXICO.          377 

may  be  called  "  the  eye  of  America  "  ;  and  the  influence 
which  she  exerts  proceeds  not  from  size,  —  for  there  are 
other  cities  larger  far, — but  from  moral  and  intellectual 
character.  It  is  only  just,  then,  that  a  town  foremost 
in  the  struggles  of  the  Kevolution,  foremost  in  all  the 
humane,  and  enlightened  labors  of  our  country,  should 
take  the  lead  now. 

The  war  in  which  the  United  States  are  engaged  has 
been  from  this  platform  pronounced  unconstitutional 
Such  was  the  judgment  of  him  who  has  earned  the  title 
of  Defender  of  the  Constitution.  Would  that,  instead 
of  innocuous  threat  to  impeach  its  alleged  author,  he 
had  spoken  in  the  spirit  of  another  time,  when,  brand 
ing  an  appropriation  as  unconstitutional,  he  boldly  said 
he  would  not  vote  for  it,  if  the  enemy  were  thunder 
ing  at  the  gates  of  the  Capitol ! 

Assuming  that  the  war  commenced  in  violation  of  the 
Constitution,  we  have  ample  reason  for  its  arrest  on  this 
account  alone.  Of  course  the  troops  should  be  with 
drawn  to  where  they  were,  when,  in  defiance  of  the 
Constitution,  they  moved  upon  disputed  territory. 

But  the  war  is  not  only  unconstitutional,  it  is  unjust, 
and  it  is  vile  in  object  and  character.  It  had  its  origin 
in  a  well-known  series  of  measures  to  extend  and  per 
petuate  Slavery.  It  is  a  war  which  must  ever  be  odious 
in  history,  beyond  the  outrages  of  brutality  which  dis 
grace  other  nations  and  times.  It  is  a  slave-driving 
war.  In  principle  it  is  only  a  little  above  those  miser 
able  conflicts  between  barbarian  chiefs  of  Central  Africa 
to  obtain  slaves  for  the  inhuman  markets  of  Brazil 
Such  a  war  must  be  accursed  in  the  sight  of  God.  Why 
is  it  not  accursed  in  the  sight  of  man  ? 

We  are  told  that  the  country  is  engaged  in  the  war, 


378  WITHDRAWAL  OF  TROOPS   FROM   MEXICO. 

and  therefore  it  must  be  maintained,  or,  as  it  is  some 
times  expressed,  vigorously  prosecuted.  In  other  words, 
the  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  the  outrage  upon 
justice  sink  out  of  sight,  and  we  are  urged  to  these  same 
acts  again.  By  what  necromancy  do  these  pass  from 
wrong  to  right  ?  In  what  book  of  morals  is  it  written, 
that  what  is  bad  before  it  is  undertaken  becomes  righteous 
merely  from  the  circumstance  that  it  is  commenced  ? 
Who  on  earth  is  authorized  to  transmute  wrong  into 
right  ?  Whoso  admits  the  unconstitutionally  and  injus 
tice  of  the  war,  and  yet  sanctions  its  prosecution,  must 
approve  the  Heaven-defying  sentiment,  "  Our  country, 
right  or  wrong."  Can  this  be  the  sentiment  of  Boston  ? 
If  so,  in  vain  are  her  children  nurtured  in  the  churches 
of  the  Pilgrims,  in  vain  fed  from  the  common  table  of 
knowledge  bountifully  supplied  by  our  common  schools. 
Who  would  profess  allegiance  to  wrong  ?  Who  would 
deny  allegiance  to  right  ?  Right  is  one  of  the  attributes 
of  God,  or  rather  it  is  part  of  his  Divinity,  immortal  as 
himself.  The  mortal  cannot  be  higher  than  the  immortal. 
Had  this  sentiment  been  received  by  our  English  de 
fenders  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  no  fiery  tongue  of 
Chatham,  Burke,  Fox,  or  Camden  would  have  been  heard 
in  our  behalf.  Their  great  testimony  would  have  failed. 
All  would  have  been  silenced,  while  crying  that  the  coun 
try,  right  or  wrong,  must  be  carried  through  the  war. 

Here  is  a  gross  confusion  of  opposite  duties  in  cases  of 
defence  and  of  offence.  When  a  country  is  invaded,  its  soil 
pressed  by  hostile  footsteps,  its  churches  desecrated,  its 
inhabitants  despoiled  of  homes,  its  national  life  assailed, 
then  the  indignant  spirit  of  a  free  people  rises  to  repel 
the  aggressor.  Such  an  occasion  challenges  all  the  ener 
gies  of  self-defence.  It  has  about  it  all  that  dismal  glory 


WITHDRAWAL   OF  TROOPS  FROM  MEXICO.  379 

which  can  be  earned  in  scenes  of  human  strife.  But  if  it 
be  right  to  persevere  in  defence,  it  must  be  wrong  to  per 
severe  in  offence.  If  the  Mexicans  are  right  in  defending 
their  homes,  we  certainly  are  wrong  in  invading  them. 

The  present  war  is  offensive  in  essence.  As  such  it 
loses  all  shadow  of  title  to  support.  The  acts  of  cour 
age  and  hardihood  which  in  a  just  cause  might  excite 
regard,  when  performed  in  an  unrighteous  cause,  have 
no  quality  that  can  commend  them  to  virtuous  sympa 
thy.  The  victories  of  aggression  and  injustice  are  a 
grief  and  shame.  Blood  wrongfully  shed  cries  from 
the  ground  drenched  with  the  fraternal  tide. 

The  enormous  expenditures  lavished  upon  this  war, 
now  extending  to  fifty  millions  of  dollars,  —  we  have 
been  told  recently  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  that  they 
were  near  one  hundred  millions,  —  are  another  reason 
for  its  cessation.  The  soul  sickens  at  the  contempla 
tion  of  this  incalculable  sum  diverted  from  purposes 
of  usefulness  and  beneficence,  from  railroads,  colleges, 
hospitals,  schools,  and  churches,  under  whose  genial  in 
fluences  the  country  would  blossom  as  a  rose,  and  des 
ecrated  to  the  wicked  purposes  of  unjust  war.  In  any 
righteous  self-defence  even  these  expenditures  would 
be  readily  incurred.  The  saying  of  an  early  father 
of  the  Republic,  which  roused  its  enthusiasm  to  un 
wonted  pitch,  was,  "  Millions  for  Defence,  not  a  cent 
for  Tribute."  Another  sentiment  more  pertinent  to  our 
times  would  be,  "  Not  a  cent  for  OFFENCE." 

And  why  is  this  war  to  be  maintained  ?  According 
to  the  jargon  of  the  day,  "  to  conquer  a  peace."  But  if 
we  ask  for  peace  in  the  spirit  of  peace,  we  must  begin  by 
doing  justice  to  Mexico.  We  are  the  aggressors,  wfc 
are  now  in  the  wrong.  We  must  do  all  in  our  power 


380  WITHDRAWAL  OF  TROOPS   FROM   MEXICO. 

to  set  ourselves  right.  This  surely  is  not  by  brutal 
effort  to  conquer  Mexico.  Our  military  force  is  so  far 
greater  than  hers,  that  even  conquest  must  be  without 
the  wretched  glory  which  men  covet,  while  honor  is 
impossible  from  successful  adherence  to  original  acts  of 
wrong.  "To  conquer  a  peace"  may  have  a  sensible 
signification,  when  a  nation  is  acting  in  self-defence; 
but  it  is  base,  unjust,  and  atrocious,  when  the  war  is  of 
offence.  Peace  in  such  a  war,  if  founded  on  conquest, 
must  be  the  triumph  of  injustice,  the  consummation  of 
wrong.  It  is  unlike  that  true  peace  won  by  justice  or 
forbearance.  It  cannot  be  sanctioned  by  the  God  of 
Christians.  To  the  better  divinities  of  heathenism  it 
would  be  offensive.  It  is  of  such  a  peace  that  the  Roman 
historian,  whose  pen  is  as  keen  as  a  sword's  sharp  point, 
Bays,  "  Auferre,  trucidare,  rapere,  falsis  nominibus,  IM- 
PERIUM  ;  atque,  iibi  solitudinem  faciunt,  PACEM  appel 
lant  "  :  With  lying  names,  they  call  spoliation,  murder, 
and  rapine,  Empire  ;  and  when  they  have  produced  the 
desolation  of  solitude,  they  call  it  Peace.1 

The  present  course  of  our  country,  I  have  said,  is  op 
posed  to  those  principles  which  govern  men  in  private 
life.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  conspicuous  advocates  for  the 
maintenance  of  this  war  would  hesitate,  if  found  wrong  in 
any  private  transaction,  to  retreat  at  once.  "With  proper 
apology  they  would  repair  their  error,  while  they  recoiled 
from  the  very  suspicion  of  perseverance.  Such  should 
be  the  conduct  of  the  Nation  ;  for  it  cannot  be  said  too 
often,  that  the  general  rules  of  morals  are  the  same  for 
individuals  and  states.  "A  commonwealth,"  says  Milton, 
"  ought  to  be  but  as  one  huge  Christian  personage,  one 
mighty  growth  and  stature  of  an  honest  man,  as  big  and 

1  Tacitus,  Agricola,  c.  80. 


WITHDRAWAL  OF  TROOPS  FROM  MEXICO.          381 

compact  in  virtue  as  in  body.  For  look  what  the  grounds 
and  causes  are  of  single  happiness  to  one  man,  the  same  ye 
shall  find  them  to  a  whole  state ;  by  consequence,  there 
fore,  that  which  is  good  and  agreeable  to  the  state  will 
appear  soonest  to  be  so  by  being  good  and  agreeable  to 
the  true  welfare  of  every  Christian,  and  that  which  can  be 
justly  proved  hurtful  and  offensive  to  every  true  Chris 
tian  will  be  evinced  to  be  alike  hurtful  to  the  state."1 

I  adopt  the  sentiments  of  Milton,  and  ask,  Is  not  per 
severance  in  wrong-doing  hurtful  and  offensive  to  every 
Christian  ?  Is  not  perseverance  in  wrong-doing  hurtful 
and  offensive  to  every  Christian  commonwealth  ?  And 
is  it  not  doubly  so,  when  the  opposite  party  is  weak 
and  the  offender  strong  ? 

There  are  other  considerations,  arising  from  our  fel 
lowship  with  Mexico,  which  plead  for  her.  She  is  our 
neighbor  and  sister  republic,  who  caught  her  first  im 
pulse  to  independence  from  our  example,  rejecting  the  en 
signs  of  royalty  to  follow  simpler,  purer  forms.  She  has 
erred  often,  and  suffered  much,  under  the  rule  of  selfish 
and  bad  men.  But  she  is  our  neighbor  and  sister  still,  en 
titled  to  the  rights  of  neighborhood  and  sisterhood.  Many 
of  her  citizens  are  well  known  in  our  country,  where  they 
established  relations  of  respect  and  amity.  One  of  them, 
General  Almonte,  her  recent  minister  at  Washington,  was 
a  favored  guest  in  the  social  circles  of  the  capital.  He 
is  personally  known  to  many  who  voted  the  supplies  for 
this  cruel  war  upon  his  country.  The  representative  from 
Boston  refers  to  him  in  terms  of  personal  regard.  Ad 
dressing  any  of  these  friends,  how  justly  might  this  Mex 
ican  adopt  the  words  of  Franklin,  in  his  remarkable  letter 
to  Mr.  Strahan,  of  the  British  Parliament ! 

1  Of  Reformation  in  England,  Book  II. :  Prose  Work*,  Vol.  I.  p.  8». 


382  WITHDRAWAL  OP  TROOPS   FROM  MEXICO. 

"  PHILADELPHIA,  6  July,  1776. 

"  MR.  STRAHAN,  —  You  are  a  member  of  Parliament,  and 
one  of  that  majority  which  doomed  my  country  to  destruc 
tion.  You  have  begun  to  burn  our  towns  and  murder  our 
people.  Look  upon  your  hands :  they  are  stained  with  the 
blood  of  your  relations  I  You  and  I  were  long  friends  :  you 
are  now  my  enemy,  and  I  am  yours, 

"  R  FRANKLIN."  * 

The  struggle  in  Mexico  against  the  United  States,  and 
that  of  our  fathers  against  England,  have  their  points  of 
resemblance.  Prominent  among  these  is  the  aggressive 
character  of  the  proceedings,  in  the  hope  of  crushing  a 
weaker  people.  But  the  parallel  fails  as  yet  in  an  im 
portant  particular.  The  injustice  of  England  roused  her 
most  distinguished  sons,  in  her  own  Parliament,  to  call 
for  the  cessation  of  the  war.  It  inspired  the  eloquence 
of  Chatham  to  those  strains  of  undying  fame.  In  the  Sen 
ate  of  the  United  States  there  is  a  favorite  son  of  Massa 
chusetts,  to  whom  lias  been  accorded  powers  unsurpassed 
by  those  of  any  English  orator.  He  has  now  before  him 
the  cause  of  Chatham.  His  country  is  engaged  in  un 
righteous  war.  Join  now  in  asking  him  to  raise  his  elo 
quent  voice  in  behalf  of  justice,  and  of  peace  founded 
on  justice ;  and  may  the  spirit  of  Chatham  descend  upon 
him! 

Let  us  call  upon  the  whole  country  to  rally  in  this 
cause.  And  may  a  voice  go  forth  from  Faneuil  Hall  to 
night,  awakening  fresh  echoes  throughout  the  valleys  of 
New  England, — swelling  as  it  proceeds,  and  gathering 
new  reverberations  in  its  ample  volume, — traversing  the 
whole  land,  and  still  receiving  other  voices,  till  it  reaches 
our  rulers  at  Washington,  and,  in  tones  of  thunder,  de 
mands  the  cessation  of  this  unjust  war  ! 

1  Works,  ed.  Sparks,  Vol.  VIIL  p.  166. 


WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBART 
STATES. 

A  LECTURE  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  MERCANTILE  LIBRARY  ASSOCIATION, 
FEBRUARY  17,  1847. 


Mutato  nomine,  de  te 
Fabula  narratur.  —  HOB.  Sat.  I.  i.  69,  70. 

And  thinkest  thou  this,  0  man,  that  judgest  them  which  do  such  things, 
and  doest  the  same,  that  thou  shalt  escape  the  judgment  of  God?  — 
Rom.  ii.  3. 

There  are  individuals  in  the  United  States  who  hold  more  of  their  fel 
low-creatures  in  slavery  than  either  of  the  Barbary  Powers.  —  HUMPHREYS, 
Valedictory  Discourse  before  the  Cincinnati  of  Connecticut,  p.  84. 


THIS  wan  another  attempt  to  expose  Slavery  before  a  promiscuous  audi 
ence  at  a  time  when  the  subject  was  too  delicate  to  be  treated  directly. 
Mr.  Sumner  commenced  in  the  course  at  Boston,  and  afterwards  gave  the 
substance  of  his  Lecture  before  many  of  the  Lyceums  of  Massachusetts. 
Professedly  historical  in  character,  and  carefully  avoiding  any  discussion  of 
slavery  in  our  country,  it  escaped  "  censure,"  although  jealous  defenders 
of  compromise  were  disturbed.  Others  were  pleased  to  find  their  sentiments 
against  slavery  represented  in  the  lecture-room. 

It  was  easy  to  see,  that,  under  the  guise  of  condemning  the  slavery  of 
whites,  he  condemned  the  slavery  of  blacks.  While  showing  how  the  first 
came  to  prevail,  he  naturally  exposed  the  origin  of  all  slavery ;  nor  does  ne 
for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  slavery  among  us,  which  is  constantly  present 
under  an  aliai.  The  outrage  is  exhibited  not  only  in  its  original  wrong  and 
oppression,  but  in  the  constant  efforts  against  it  by  all  civilized  nations, 
sometimes  by  ransom,  sometimes  by  war,  ending  at  last  in  bloody  over 
throw.  Conspiracies  and  escapes  are  described.  At  that  time  there  was 
intense  interest  in  fugitive  slaves,  which  was  gratified  by  the  stories  here 
introduced,  showing  how  human  sympathies  attend  all  seeking  freedom. 
Klsewhere,  as  well  as  here,  the  North  Star  had  been  a  guide.  It  was  common 
to  doubt  the  hardships  of  slavery  in  our  country;  but  there  were  persons 
who  doubted  the  hardships  of  slavery  in  the  Barbary  States.  Nothing  more 
common  among  compromisers  than  to  say  that  our  slaves  did  not  desire  free 
dom,  and  that  they  were  better  off  than  free  negroes ;  but  there  were  per 
sons,  professing  to  know  the  condition  of  the  Barbary  States,  who  insisted 
that  there  were  white  slaves  who  left  with  regret,  and  that  they  were  better 
off  than  free  Christians  there.  Thus  at  each  point  is  this  historical  lecture 
an  argument  against  Slavery,  and  an  answer  to  its  defenders. 


LECTURE. 


HISTOKY  is  sometimes  called  a  gallery,  where  are 
exhibited  scenes,  events,  and  characters  of  the 
Past.  It  may  also  be  called  the  world's  great  charnel- 
house,  where  are  gathered  coffins,  dead  men's  bones,  and 
all  the  uncleanness  of  years  that  have  fled.  Thus  is  it 
both  an  example  and  a  warning  to  mankind.  Walking 
among  its  pictures,  radiant  with  the  inspiration  of  virtue 
and  of  freedom,  we  thrill  with  new  impulse  to  beneficent 
exertion.  Groping  amidst  unsightly  shapes  without  an 
epitaph,  we  may  at  least  derive  fresh  aversion  to  all  their 
living  representatives. 

In  this  mighty  gallery,  amidst  angelic  light,  are  the 
benefactors  of  mankind,  —  poets  who  have  sung  the 
praise  of  virtue,  historians  who  have  recorded  its  achieve 
ments,  and  the  good  of  all  time,  who,  by  word  or  deed, 
have  striven  for  the  welfare  of  others.  Here  are  those 
scenes  where  the  godlike  in  man  is  made  manifest  in 
trial  and  danger.  Here  also  are  those  grand  pictures 
exhibiting  the  establishment  of  free  institutions :  the 
signing  of  Magna  Charta,  with  its  priceless  privileges,  by 
a  reluctant  monarch ;  and  the  signing  of  the  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  announcing  the  inalienable  rights 
of  man,  by  the  fathers  of  our  Republic. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  ignominious   confusion,  far 

VOL.    I.  17  Y 


386        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES. 

down  in  this  dark,  dreary  charnel-house,  is  tumbled  all 
that  now  remains  of  the  tyrants,  the  persecutors,  the 
selfish  men,  under  whom  mankind  have  groaned.  Here 
also,  in  festering,  loathsome  decay,  are  monstrous  insti 
tutions  or  customs,  which  the  earth,  weary  of  their  in 
famy  and  wrong,  has  refused  to  sustain,  —  the  Helotism 
of  Sparta,  the  Serfdom  of  Christian  Europe,  the  Ordeal 
by  Battle,  and  Algerine  Slavery. 

From  this  charnel-house  let  me  draw  forth  one  of 
these.  It  may  not  be  without  profit  to  dwell  on  the 
origin,  history,  and  character  of  a  custom,  which,  after 
being  for  a  long  time  a  by-word  and  a  hissing  among 
the  nations,  is  at  last  driven  from  the  world.  The  easy, 
instinctive,  positive  reprobation  which  it  will  receive 
from  all  must  necessarily  direct  our  judgment  of  other 
institutions,  yet  tolerated  in  defiance  of  justice  and  hu 
manity.  I  propose  to  consider  the  subject  of  White 
Slavery  in  Algiers,  or,  perhaps  it  may  be  more  appro 
priately  called,  White  Slavery  in  the  Barbary  States.  As 
Algiers  was  its  chief  seat,  it  seems  to  have  acquired 
a  current  name  from  that  place.  Nevertheless  I  shall 
proceed  to  speak  of  White  Slavery,  or  the  Slavery  of 
Christians,  throughout  the  Barbary  States. 

This  subject  may  fail  in  interest,  but  not  in  novelty. 
I  am  not  aware  of  any  previous  attempt  to  combine  its 
scattered  materials. 

TERRITORY  OF  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

THE  territory  now  known  as  the  Barbary  Statei  is 
memorable  in  history.  Classical  inscriptions,  broken 
arches,  and  ancient  tombs  —  the  memorials  of  various 
ages  —  still  bear  interesting  witness  to  the  revolutions 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BAKBARY  STATES.         387 

it  has  undergone.1  Early  Greek  legend  made  it  the 
home  of  terror  and  of  happiness.  Here  was  the  re 
treat  of  the  Gorgon,  with  snaky  tresses,  turning  all  she 
looked  upon  into  stone;  and  here  also  the  Garden  of 
the  Hesperides,  with  apples  of  gold.  It  was  the  scene 
of  adventure  and  mythology.  Here  Hercules  wrestled 
with  Antaeus,  and  Atlas  sustained,  with  weary  shoulders, 
the  overarching  sky.  At  an  early  day  Phoenician  fugi 
tives  transported  the  spirit  of  commerce  to  its  coasts; 
and  Carthage,  which  these  wanderers  planted,  became 
mistress  of  the  seas,  explorer  of  distant  regions,  rival 
and  victim  of  Rome.  Here  for  a  while  the  energy  and 
subtlety  of  Jugurtha  baffled  the  Roman  power,  till 
at  last  the  whole  region,  from  Egypt  to  the  Pillars  of 
Hercules,  underwent  the  process  of  "annexation"  to 
the  cormorant  republic  of  ancient  times.  A  thriving 
population  and  fertile  soil  rendered  it  an  immense 
granary.  It  was  filled  with  ancient  cities,  one  of  which 
was  the  refuge  and  the  grave  of  Cato,  fleeing  from  the 
usurpations  of  Caesar.  At  a  later  day  Christianity  was 
here  preached  by  saintly  bishops.  The  torrent  of  the 
Vandals,  first  wasting  Italy,  passed  this  way  ;  and  the 
arms  of  Belisarius  here  obtained  their  most  signal 
triumphs.  The  Saracens,  with  the  Koran  and  the 
sword,  declared  ministers  of  conversion,  next  broke  from 
Arabia,  as  messengers  of  a  new  religion,  and,  pouring 
along  these  shores,  diffused  the  faith  and  doctrines  of 
Mohammed.  Their  empire  was  not  confined  even  by 
these  expansive  limits,  but,  under  Musa,  entered  Spain, 
and  afterwards  at  Itoncesvalles,  in  "  dolorous  rout," 

1  The  classical  student  will  be  gratified  and  surprised  by  the  remains  of 
antiquity  described  by  Dr.  Shaw,  English  chaplain  at  Algiers  in  the  reign 
of  George  the  First,  in  his  "  Travels,  or  Observations  relating  to  Several 
Parts  of  Barbary  and  the  Levant,"  published  in  1788. 


388        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

overthrew  the  embattled  chivalry  of  the  Christian  world 
under  Charlemagne. 

The  Saracenic  power  did  not  long  retain  its  unity 
or  importance ;  and  as  we  discern  this  territory  in  the 
dawn  of  modern  history,  when  the  countries  of  Europe 
are  appearing  in  their  new  nationalities,  we  recognize 
five  different  communities  or  states,  Morocco,  Algiers, 
Tunis,  Tripoli,  and  Barca,  the  last  of  little  moment 
and  often  included  in  Tripoli,  the  whole  constituting 
what  was  then,  and  is  still,  called  the  Barbary  States. 
This  name  has  sometimes  been  referred  to  the  Berbers, 
or  Berebbers,  constituting  part  of  the  inhabitants ;  but 
I  delight  to  follow  the  classic  authority  of  Gibbon,  who 
thinks  that  the  term,  first  applied  by  Greek  pride  to 
all  strangers,  and  finally  reserved  for  those  only  who 
were  savage  or  hostile,  justly  settled,  as  a  local  de 
nomination,  along  the  northern  coast  of  Africa.1  The 
Barbary  States,  then,  bear  their  past  character  in  their 
name. 

They  occupy  an  important  space  on  the  earth's  sur 
face  :  on  the  north  washed  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  fur 
nishing  such  opportunities  for  prompt  intercourse  with 
Southern  Europe  that  Cato  was  able  to  exhibit  in  the 
Roman  Senate  figs  freshly  plucked  in  the  gardens  of 
Carthage  ;  bounded  on  the  east  by  Egypt,  on  the  west  by 
the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  on  the  south  by  the  vast,  mys 
terious,  sandy,  flinty  waste  of  Sahara,  separating  them 
from  Soudan  or  Negroland.  In  advantage  of  position 
they  surpass  every  other  part  of  Africa,  —  unless  we 
except  Egypt,  —  communicating  easily  with  the  Chris 
tian  nations,  and  thus,  as  it  were,  touching  the  very  hem 
and  border  of  civilization. 

1  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Chap.  LI.  Vol.  IX.  p.  465. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES.         389 

Climate  adds  attractions  to  this  region,  which  is  re 
moved  from  the  cold  of  the  north  and  the  burning  heat 
of  the  tropics,  while  it  is  enriched  with  oranges,  citrons, 
olives,  figs,  pomegranates,  and  luxuriant  flowers.  Its 
position  and  character  invite  a  singular  and  suggestive 
comparison.  It  is  placed  between  the  twenty-fifth  and 
thirty-seventh  degrees  of  north  latitude,  occupying  nearly 
the  same  parallels  with  the  Slave  States  of  our  Union. 
It  extends  over  nearly  the  same  number  of  degrees  of 
longitude  with  our  Slave  States,  which  seem  now,  alas  ! 
to  stretch  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
It  is  supposed  to  embrace  about  700,000  square  miles, 
which  cannot  be  far  from  the  space  comprehended  by 
what  may  be  called  the  Barbary  States  of  America.1 
Nor  does  the  comparison  end  here.  Algiers,  for  a  long 
time  the  most  obnoxious  place  in  the  Barbary  States  of 
Africa,  the  chief  seat  of  Christian  slavery,  and  once 
branded  by  an  indignant  chronicler  as  "  the  wall  of  the 
barbarian  world,"  is  situated  near  the  parallel  of  36°  30' 
north  latitude,  being  the  line  of  what  is  termed  the 
Missouri  Compromise,  marking  the  "  wall "  of  Christian 
slavery  in  our  country,  west  of  the  Mississippi. 

Other  less  important  points  of  likeness  occur.  They 
are  each  washed,  to  the  same  extent,  by  ocean  and  sea, 
—  with  this  difference,  that  the  two  are  thus  exposed 
on  directly  opposite  coasts :  the  African  Barbary  being 
water-bounded  on  the  north  and  west,  and  our  Ameri 
can  Barbary  on  the  south  and  east.  But  there  are  no 
two  spaces  on  the  globe,  of  equal  extent,  (and  geo 
graphical  testimony  will  verify  what  I  am  stating,) 
which  present  so  many  distinctive  features  of  resem- 

1  Jefferson,  without  recognizing  the  general  parallel,  allndes  to  Virginia 
as  fast  sinking  to  be  "the  Barhnry  of  the  Union."  —  Memoir,  Correspond 
ence,  etc.,  ed.  T.  J.  Randolph,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  888.  884. 


390         WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   TUB  BARBARY  STATES. 

blance,  whether  we  consider  the  parallels  of  latitude  on 
which  they  lie,  the  nature  of  their  boundaries,  their  pro 
ductions,  their  climate,  or  the  "  peculiar  domestic  insti 
tution  "  which  has  sought  shelter  in  both. 

I  introduce  these  comparisons  that  I  may  bring  home 
to  your  minds,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  precise  position 
and  character  of  the  territory  which  was  the  seat  of  the 
evil  I  am  about  to  describe.  It  might  be  worthy  of 
inquiry,  why  Christian  slavery,  banished  at  last  from 
Europe,  banished  also  from  that  part  of  this  hemisphere 
which  corresponds  in  latitude  to  Europe,  should  have 
intrenched  itself  in  both  hemispheres  between  the  same 
parallels  of  latitude,  so  that  Virginia,  Carolina,  Missis 
sippi,  and  Texas  should  be  the  American  complement 
to  Morocco,  Algiers,  Tripoli,  and  Tunis.  Perhaps  com 
mon  peculiarities  of  climate,  breeding  lassitude,  indolence, 
and  selfishness,  may  account  for  that  insensibility  to  the 
claims  of  justice  and  humanity  which  have  characterized 
both  regions. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  WHITE  SLAVERY. 

THE  revolting  custom  of  White  Slavery  in  the  Barbary 
States  was  for  many  years  the  shame  of  modern  civil 
ization.  The  nations  of  Europe  made  constant  efforts, 
continued  through  successive  centuries,  to  procure  its 
abolition,  and  also  to  rescue  their  subjects  from  its  fear 
ful  doom.  These  may  be  traced  in  diversified  pages  of 
history,  and  in  authentic  memoirs.  Literature  affords 
illustrations  which  must  not  be  neglected.  At  one 
period,  the  French,  the  Italians,  and  the  Spaniards 
borrowed  the  plots  of  their  stories  from  this  source.1 

1  SUmondi,  Literature  of  the  South  of  Europe,  Chap.  XXIX.  Vol.  HI.  p.  402. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES.        391 

The  adventures  of  Robinson  Crusoe  make  our  child 
hood  familiar  with  one  of  its  forms.  Among  his  early 
trials  was  his  piratical  capture  by  a  rover  from  Sallee,  a 
port  of  Morocco  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  reduction 
to  slavery.  "  At  this  surprising  change  of  my  circum 
stances,"  says  Crusoe,  "  from  a  merchant  to  a  miserable 
slave,  I  was  perfectly  overwhelmed ;  and  now  I  looked 
back  upon  my  father's  prophetic  discourse  to  me,  that  I 
should  be  miserable  and  have  none  to  relieve  me,  which 
I  thought  was  now  so  effectually  brought  to  pass  that  it 
could  not  be  worse."  And  Cervantes,  in  the  story  of  Don 
Quixote,  over  which  so  many  generations  have  shaken 
with  laughter,  turns  aside  from  its  genial  current  to  give 
the  narrative  of  a  Spanish  captive  who  had  escaped 
from  Algiers.  The  author  is  supposed  to  have  drawn 
from  his  own  experience ;  for  during  five  years  and  a 
half  he  endured  the  horrors  of  Algerine  slavery,  from 
which  he  was  finally  liberated  by  a  ransom  of  less  than 
seven  hundred  dollars.1  This  inconsiderable  sum  of 
money  —  scarcely  the  price  of  an  ordinary  African  slave 
in  our  own  Southern  States  —  gave  to  freedom,  to  his 
country,  and  to  mankind  the  author  of  Don  Quixote. 

In  Cervantes  freedom  gained  a  champion  whose  ef 
forts  entitle  him  to  grateful  mention  on  this  threshold 
of  our  inquiry.  Taught  in  the  school  of  slavery,  he 
knew  how  to  commiserate  the  slave.  The  unhappy 
condition  of  his  fellow-Christians  in  chains  was  ever 
uppermost  in  his  mind.  He  lost  no  opportunity  of 
inciting  attempts  for  their  emancipation,  and  for  the 

i  The  exact  amount  in  our  money  is  left  uncertain  both  by  Smollett  and 
Boscoe.  in  their  lives  of  Cervantes.    It  appears  that  it  wa*  five  hundi 
crowns  of  Spain,  which,  according  to  his  Spanish  biographer.  Xnvai 
is  equal  to  6,770  reals,  in  the  currency  of  the  present  day.    (\  ida  d< 
vantes,  p.  371.)    The  real  is  reckoned  at  ten  cents. 


392        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES. 

overthrow  of  the  "  peculiar  institution "  —  pardon  the 
recurring  phrase  !  —  under  which  they  groaned.  He 
became  in  Spain  what,  in  our  day  and  country,  is  some 
times  called  an  "  anti-slavery  agitator,"  —  not  by  public 
meetings  and  addresses,  but,  according  to  the  genius  of 
the  age,  mainly  through  the  theatre.  Not  from  the 
platform,  but  from  the  stage,  did  this  liberated  slave 
speak  to  the  world.  In  a  play  entitled  El  Trato  de 
Argcl,  or  Life  in  Algiers  —  which,  though  not  composed 
according  to  rules  of  art,  found  much  favor,  probably 
from  its  subject  —  he  pictured,  shortly  after  his  return 
to  Spain,  the  manifold  humiliations,  pains,  and  torments 
of  slavery.  This  was  followed  by  two  other  plays  in 
the  same  spirit,  — La  Gran  Sultana  Dolla  Cathalina  de 
Oviedo,  and  Los  Bafios  de  Argel,  or,  The  Galleys  of  Al 
giers.  The  last  act  of  the  latter  closes  with  the  state 
ment,  calculated  to  enlist  the  sympathies  of  an  audience, 
that  "  this  play  is  not  drawn  from  the  imagination,  but 
was  born  far  from  the  regions  of  fiction,  in  the  very  heart 
of  truth."  More  could  not  be  said  of  a  tale  of  Slavery 
in  our  day.  Not  content  with  this  appeal  through  the 
theatre,  Cervantes,  with  constant  zeal,  takes  up  the  same 
theme  in  the  tale  of  "  The  Captive"  which  he  introduces 
into  Don  Quixote,  and  also  in  that  of  El  Amante  Liberal, 
and  in  some  parts  of  La  Espaftola  Inglesa.  All  these 
may  be  regarded  not  merely  as  literary  labors,  but  as 
charitable  efforts  in  behalf  of  human  freedom. 

This  same  cause  enlisted  a  contemporary  genius,  pro 
lific  beyond  precedent,  called  by  Cervantes  "  that  great 
prodigy  of  Nature,"  Lope  de  Vega,  who  freely  bor 
rowed  from  it  in  a  play  entitled  Los  Cautivos  de  Ar- 
gcl.  At  a  later  day,  Calderon,  sometimes  exalted  as 
the  Shakespeare  of  the  Spanish  stage,  in  one  of  his 


WHITE  SLAVEEY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES.        393 

most  remarkable  dramas,  El  Principe  Constante,  cast 
a  poet's  glance  at  Christian  slavery  in  Morocco.  To 
these  works,  belonging  to  what  may  be  called  the 
literature  of  Anti-Slavery,  and  shedding  upon  our  sub 
ject  a  grateful  light,  must  be  added  a  curious  and 
learned  volume  on  the  Topography  and  History  of 
Algiers  (Topographm  e  Historia  de  Argel),  by  Haedo, 
a  Spanish  father  of  the  Catholic  Church,  published  in 
1612,  and  containing  also  two  copious  Dialogues,  —  one 
on  Captivity  (de  la  Captividad),  and  the  other  on  the 
Martyrs  of  Algiers  (de  los  Martyres  de  Argcl}.  These 
Dialogues,  besides  embodying  authentic  sketches  of  suf 
fering  in  Algiers,  form  a  mine  of  classical  and  patristic 
learning  on  the  origin  and  character  of  slavery,  with 
arguments  and  protestations  against  its  iniquity,  which 
may  be  explored  with  profit  even  in  our  day.  In  view 
of  this  gigantic  evil,  particularly  in  Algiers,  and  in  the 
hope  of  arousing  his  countrymen  to  the  generous  work 
of  emancipation,  the  good  father  exclaims,  in  words 
which  must  thrill  the  soul  so  long  as  a  single  fetter 
binds  a  single  slave  :  "  Where  is  charity  ?  "Where  is  the 
love  of  God  ?  Where  is  the  zeal  for  his  glory  ?  Where 
is  desire  for  his  service  ?  Where  is  human  pity,  and 
the  compassion  of  man  for  man  ?  Certainly,  to  redeem 
a  captive,  to  liberate  him  from  wretched  slavery,  is  the 
highest  work  of  charity,  of  all  that  can  be  done  in  this 
world."1  The  reports  of  the  good  fathers  who  visited 
this  land  of  bondage  for  the  redemption  of  captives  tes 
tify  likewise.  One  of  these  thus  speaks  from  the  depths 
of  the  heart :  "  The  charity  of  Jesus  Christ  obliges  us  ; 
and  I  question  not  but  that  whosoever  had  seen  those 
miseries  I  have  been  a  witness  to,  and  the  deplorable 

1  Pp.  140,  141. 
17* 


394        WHITE  SLAVEEY  IN  THE  BAKBABY  STATES. 

condition  I  left  our  captives  in,  would  have  no  less 
ardent  a  desire  to  relieve  them."1 

Not  long  after  the  bitter  experience  of  Cervantes,  an 
other  person,  of  another  country  and  language,  and  of  a 
higher  character,  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  one  of  the  saintly 
glories  of  France,  encountered  the  same  cruel  lot.  Hap 
pily  for  the  world,  he  escaped  from  slavery,  to  commence 
at  home  that  long  career  of  charity  —  nobler  than  any 
fame  of  literature  —  signalized  by  various  Christian  ef 
forts  against  duels,  for  peace,  for  the  poor,  and  in  every 
field  of  humanity,  by  which  he  is  enrolled  among  the 
great  names  of  Christendom.  Princes  and  orators  have 
lavished  panegyrics  upon  this  fugitive  slave;  and  the 
Catholic  Church,  in  homage  to  his  extraordinary  vir 
tues,  has  numbered  him  witli  the  saints.  Nor  is  he 
the  only  illustrious  Frenchman  who  has  felt  the  yoke 
of  slavery.  Arago,  astronomer  and  philosopher,  —  de 
voted  republican  also,  —  while  on  the  coast  of  the 
Mediterranean,  engaged  in  those  scientific  labors  which 
made  the  beginning  of  his  fame,  came  within  the  clutch 
of  Algerine  slave-dealers.  What  science  and  the  world 
gained  by  his  liberation  I  need  not  say. 

Thus  Science,  Literature,  Freedom,  Philanthropy,  the 
Catholic  Church,  each  and  all,  owe  a  debt  to  the  lib 
erated  Barbary  slave.  Let  them,  on  this  occasion,  as 
beneficent  heralds,  commend  the  story  of  his  wrongs, 
his  struggles,  and  his  triumphs  I 

*  Busnot,  History  of  the  Reign  of  Moley  Ismael :  Preface. 


WHITE   SLAVERY   IX   THE   BARBARY  STATES.         395 

I. 

ORIGIN  OF  SLAVERY. 

THESE  preliminary  remarks  prepare  the  way  for 
the  subject  to  which  I  invite  attention.  Here  I  am 
naturally  led  to  touch  upon  the  origin  of  slavery,  and 
the  principles  which  lie  at  its  foundation,  before  pro 
ceeding  to  exhibit  the  efforts  for  its  abolition,  and  their 
final  success  in  the  Barbary  States. 

The  word  Slave,  suggesting  now  so  much  of  human 
abasement,  has  an  origin  which  speaks  of  human  gran 
deur.  Its  parent  term,  Slava,  signifying  glory,  in  the 
Slavonian  dialect,  where  it  first  appears,  was  proudly 
assumed  as  the  national  designation  of  races  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  European  continent,  who,  in 
the  vicissitudes  of  war,  were  afterwards  degraded  from 
the  condition  of  conquerors  to  that  of  servitude.  The 
Slavonian  bondman,  retaining  his  national  name,  was 
known  as  Slave ;  and  this  term,  passing  from  a  race 
to  a  class,  was  afterwards  applied,  in  the  languages  of 
modern  Europe,  to  all  in  his  unhappy  lot,  without  dis 
tinction  of  country  or  color.1  It  would  be  difficult 
to  mention  any  word  which  has  played  such  opposite 
parts  in  history,  —  beneath  the  garb  of  servitude  con 
cealing  its  early  robe  of  pride.  And  yet,  startling  as  it 
seems,  this  word  may  be  received  in  its  primitive  char 
acter,  by  those  among  us  who  consider  slavery  essen 
tial  to  democratic  institutions,  and  therefore  part  of  the 
true  glory  of  the  country.  Lexicography,  going  beyond 

1  Gibbon,  Roman  Empire,  Chap.  LV.  VoL  X.  p.  190. 


396        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

this  historical  illustration,  announces  that  "  most  prob 
ably  the  original  meaning  was  independent,  free" l  thus 
making  the  slave  distinctively  the  freeman.  In  the 
revolutions  of  society,  and  among  the  compensations 
of  Providence  for  long-continued  degradation,  the  slave 
might  yet  regain  this  original  ascendency,  if,  in  an  era 
of  justice,  the  highest  condition  were  not  where  all  are 
equal  in  rights. 


SLAVERY  IN  ANTIQUITY. 

SLAVERY  was  universally  recognized  by  the  nations 
of  antiquity.  It  is  said  by  Pliny,  in  bold  phrase,  that 
the  Lacedaemonians  "invented  slavery."2  If  this  were 
so,  the  glory  of  Lycurgus  and  Leonidas  would  not  com 
pensate  for  such  a  blot.  It  is  true  that  they  recognized 
it,  and  gave  it  a  shape  of  peculiar  hardship.  But  sla 
very  is  older  than  Sparta.  It  existed  in  the  tents  of 
Abraham  ;  for  the  three  hundred  and  eighteen  servants 
born  to  him  were  slaves.  We  behold  it  in  the  story  of 
Joseph,  who  was  sold  by  his  brothers  to  the  Midianites 
for  twenty  pieces  of  silver.8  We  find  it  in  the  poetry 
of  Homer,  who  stamps  it  with  a  reprobation  which  even 
the  Christian  Cowper  lias  hardly  surpassed,  when  he 
says,— 

"  Jove  fixed  it  certain  that  whatever  day 
Makes  man  a  slave  takes  half  his  worth  away."  * 

l  Webster,  Dictionary,  word  Slate. 

*  "  Bftrilittm  inrentre  Lnctdamonii."    Nat  Hist,  Lib.  VTI.  c.  67. 

*  Genesis  xiv.  14;  Ibid,  xxxvii.  28.     By  these  and  other  texts  of  the 
Scriptures,  slavery,  and  even  the  dart-trade,  have  been  vindicated.    See 
Brace's  Travels  in  Africa,  Book  II.  Ch.  2.  Vol.  II.  p.  819.     After  qnoting 
these  texts,  the  complacent  traveller  says  he  "  cannot  think  that  purchasing 
slaves  is  in  its«lf  either  cruel  or  unnatural." 

*  Odyssey,  tr.  Pope,  Book  XVII.,  892,  898. 


WHITE   SLAVEKY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES.        397 

In  later  days  it  prevailed  extensively  in  Greece, 
whose  haughty  people  deemed  themselves  justified  in 
enslaving  all  who  were  strangers  to  their  manners  and 
institutions.  "It  is  right  for  Greeks  to  rule  bar 
barians,"  was  the  sentiment  of  Euripides,  one  of  the 
first  of  her  poets,  echoed  by  Aristotle,  the  great 
est  of  her  intellects.1  And  even  Plato,  in  his  im 
aginary  Kepublic,  the  Utopia  of  his  beautiful  genius, 
sanctions  slavery.  But  notwithstanding  these  high 
names,  we  learn  from  Aristotle  himself  that  there 
were  persons  in  his  day — pestilent  Abolitionists  of 
ancient  Athens  —  who  did  not  hesitate  to  maintain 
that  liberty  was  the  great  law  of  Nature,  and  to  deny 
any  difference  between  master  and  slave,  —  declaring 
at  the  same  time  that  slavery  was  founded  upon  vio 
lence,  and  not  upon  right,  and  that  the  authority  of 
the  master  was  unnatural  and  unjust.2  "God  sent 
forth  all  persons  free ;  Nature  has  made  no  man  a 
slave,"  3  was  the  protest  of  one  of  these  agitating  Athe 
nians  against  this  great  wrong.  I  am  not  in  any  way 
authorized  to  speak  for  any  Anti-Slavery  Society,  even 
if  this  were  the  proper  occasion;  but  I  presume  that 
this  ancient  Greek  morality  embodies  substantially  the 

1  Euripid.,  Iphig.  in  Taurid.,  1400;  Aristot,  Polit.,  Lib.  I.  c.  1. 

2  Polit,  Lib.  I.  c.  3.     In  like  spirit  are  the  words  of  the  good  Las  Casas, 
when  pleading  before  Charles  the  Fifth  for  the  Indian  races  of  America. 
44  The  Christian  religion,"  he  said, "  is  equal  in  its  operation,  and  is  accommo 
dated  to  every  nation  on  the  globe.     It  robt  no  me  of  hi$  fretdum,  riUattt 
none  of  hit  inherent  rights,  on  the  grauntl  that  he  it  a  tlare  by  nntvre,  atpre- 
tended;  and  it  well  becomes  your  Majesty  to  bnnith  so  monstrous  an  op 
pression  from  your  kingdoms  in  the  beginning  of  your  reign,  thnt  the 
mighty  may  make  it  long  and  glorious."  —  Prescott,  Conquest  of  Mexico, 
Vol.  I.  p.  379. 

•  A  saving  attributed  bv  the  Scholiast  on  Aristotle's  Rhetoric  t< 
mas,  a  disciple  of  Gorgias  of  Leontini.    See  Aristotle's  Ethics  and  Politic*, 
tr.  Gillies.  Vol.  II.  p.  26. 


398        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

principles  maintained  at  their  public  meetings,  —  so 
far,  at  least,  as  they  relate  to  slavery. 

It  is  true,  most  true,  that  slavery  stands  on  force  and 
not  on  right.  It  is  a  hideous  result  of  war,  or  of  that 
barbarism  in  which  savage  war  plays  its  conspicuous  part. 
To  the  victor  belonged  the  lives  of  his  captives,  and,  by 
consequence,  he  might  bind  them  in  perpetual  servi 
tude.  This  principle,  which  has  been  the  foundation 
of  slavery  in  all  ages,  is  adapted  only  to  the  rudest 
conditions  of  society,  and  is  wholly  inconsistent  with  a 
period  of  refinement,  humanity,  and  justice.  It  is  sad 
to  confess  that  it  was  recognized  by  Greece ;  but  the 
civilization  of  this  famed  land,  though  brilliant  to  the 
external  view  as  the  immortal  sculptures  of  the  Par 
thenon,  was,  like  that  stately  temple,  dark  and  cheer 
less  within. 

Slavery  extended,  with  new  rigors,  under  the  military 
dominion  of  Rome.  The  spirit  of  freedom  which  ani 
mated  the  Republic  was  of  that  selfish  and  intolerant 
character  which  accumulated  privileges  upon  the  Ro 
man  citizen,  while  it  heeded  little  the  rights  of  others. 
But,  unlike  the  Greeks,  the  Romans  admitted  in  theory 
that  all  men  are  originally  free  by  the  Law  of  Nature ; 
and  they  ascril>ed  the  power  of  masters  over  slaves,  not 
to  any  alleged  diversities  in  the  races  of  men,  but  to 
the  will  of  society.1  The  constant  triumphs  of  their 
arms  were  signalized  by  reducing  to  servitude  large 
bodies  of  subjugated  people.  Paulus  ^Emilius  returned 
from  Macedonia  with  an  uncounted  train  of  slaves, 
composed  of  persons  in  every  sphere  of  life;  and 
the  camp  of  Lucullus  in  Pontus  witnessed  the  sale  of 
slaves  for  four  drachmae,  or  seventy-five  cents,  a  head. 

»  Instittit.,  Lib.  L  Tit.  2. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES.         399 

Terence  and  Phsedrus,  Roman  slaves,  teach  us  that 
genius  is  not  always  quenched  even  by  degrading 
bondage;  while  the  writings  of  Cato  the  Censor,  one 
of  the  most  virtuous  slave-masters  in  history,  show  the 
hardening  influence  of  a  system  which  treats  human 
beings  as  cattle.  "  Let  the  husbandman,"  says  Cato, 
"  sell  his  old  oxen,  his  sickly  cattle,  his  sickly  sheep, 
his  wool,  his  hides,  his  old  wagon,  his  old  implements, 
his  old  slave,  and  his  diseased  slave;  and  if  there  is 
anything  else  not  wanted,  let  him  sell  it.  He  should  be 
seller,  rather  than  buyer."  1 

The  cruelty  and  inhumanity  which  flourished  in  the 
Republic  professing  freedom  enjoyed  a  natural  home 
under  Emperors  who  were  the  high-priests  of  despotism. 
Wealth  increased,  and  with  it  the  multitude  of  slaves. 
Some  masters  are  said  to  have  owned  as  many  as  ten 
thousand,  while  extravagant  prices  were  often  paid  for 
them,  according  to  fancy  or  caprice.  Martial  mentions 
handsome  boys  sold  for  as  much  as  two  hundred  thou 
sand  sesterces  each,  or  more  than  eight  thousand  dol 
lars.2  On  the  assassination  of  Pedanius  Secundus  by 
one  of  his  slaves,  no  less  than  four  hundred  were  put  to 
death, —  an  orator  in  the  Senate  arguing  that  these  heca 
tombs  were  in  accordance  with  ancient  custom.8 

It  is  easy  to  believe  that  slavery,  which  prevailed 
so  largely  in  Greece  and  Rome,  must  have  existed  in 
Africa.  Here,  indeed,  it  found  a  peculiar  home.  If  we 
trace  the  progress  of  this  unfortunate  continent  from 
those  distant  days  of  fable  when  Jupiter  did  not 

"  disdain  to  grace 
The  feasts  of  Ethiopia's  blameless  race,"  4 

1  De  Re  Rustica,  Cap.  H.  •  Tacitus,  Ann.,  XIV.  43. 

2  Epig.  III.  62.  «  Iliad,  tr.  Pope,  Book  I.,  6M,  66T. 


400        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBABY  STATES. 

the  merchandise  in  slaves  will  be  found  to  have  con 
tributed  to  the  abolition  of  two  hateful  customs,  once 
universal  in  Africa,  —  the  eating  of  captives,  and  their 
sacrifice  to  idols.  Thus,  in  the  march  of  civilization, 
even  the  barbarism  of  slavery  is  an  important  stage  of 
Human  Progress.  It  is  a  point  in  the  ascending  scale 
from  cannibalism. 

SLAVERY  IN  MODERN  TIMES. 

IN  the  early  periods  of  modern  Europe  slavery  was 
a  general  custom,  which  yielded  only  gradually  to  the 
humane  influences  of  Christianity.  It  prevailed  in  all 
the  countries  of  which  we  have  any  records.  Fair- 
haired  Saxon  slaves  from  distant  England  arrested  the 
attention  of  Pope  Gregory  in  the  markets  of  Rome, 
and  were  by  him  hailed  as  Angels.  A  law  of  so  vir 
tuous  a  king  as  Alfred  ranks  slaves  with  horses  and 
oxen;  and  the  Chronicles  of  "NVilliam  of  Malmesbury 
show  that  in  our  mother  country  there  was  once  a  cru 
el  slave-trade  in  whites.  As  we  listen  to  this  story, 
we  shall  be  grateful  again  to  that  civilization  which 
renders  such  outrage  more  and  more  impossible. 
"Directly  opposite  to  the  Irish  coast,"  he  says, 
"there  is  a  seaport  called  Bristol,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  frequently  sent  into  Ireland  to  sell  those  people 
whom  they  had  bought  up  throughout  England.  They 
exposed  to  sale  girls  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  with 
whom  they  made  a  sort  of  mock  marriage.  There 
you  might  see  with  grief,  fastened  together  by  ropes, 
whole  rows  of  wretched  beings  of  both  sexes,  of  elegant 
forms,  and  in  the  very  bloom  of  youth,  —  a  sight  suffi 
cient  to  excite  pity  even  in  barbarians,  —  daily  offered 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBAEY  STATES.        401 

for  sale  to  the  first  purchaser.  Accursed  deed!  infa 
mous  disgrace  !  that  men,  acting  in  a  manner  which 
brute  instinct  alone  would  have  forbidden,  should  sell 
into  slavery  their  relations,  nay,  even  their  own  off 
spring  ! " l  From  still  another  chronicler  we  learn,  that, 
in  1172,  when  Ireland  was  afflicted  with  public  calami 
ties,  there  was  a  great  assembly  of  the  principal  men, 
chiefly  of  the  clergy,  who  concluded,  as  well  they  might, 
that  these  evils  were  sent  upon  their  country  for  the 
reason  that  they  had  formerly  purchased  English  boys 
as  slaves,  contrary  to  the  right  of  Christian  liberty, — 
the  poor  English,  to  supply  their  wants,  being  "accus 
tomed  to  sell  even  their  own  children,  not  to  bring  them 
up  " :  wherefore,  it  is  said,  the  English  slaves  were  al 
lowed  to  depart  in  freedom.2  Earlier  in  Irish  history  a 
boy  was  stolen  from  Scotland,  who,  after  six  years  of 
bondage,  succeeded  in  reaching  his  home,  when,  entering 
the  Church,  he  returned  to  Ireland,  preached  Christian 
ity,  and,  as  St.  Patrick,  became  the  patron  saint  of  that 
beautiful  land.3 

On  the  Continent  of  Europe,  as  late  as  the  thirteenth 
century,  the  custom  prevailed  of  treating  all  captives  in 
war  as  slaves.  Here  poetry,  as  well  as  history,  bears  its 
testimony.  Old  Michael  Drayton,  in  his  story  of  the 
Battle  of  Agincourt,  says  of  the  French  :  — 

"  For  knots  of  cord  to  every  town  they  send, 
The  captived  English  that  they  caught  to  bind  ; 
For  to  perpetwtl  tlncery  they  intend 
Those  that  nlivc  they  on  the  ftld  $hotiUJi»d."  * 

1  Life  of  St.  Wnlstnn,  Book  II.  Chnp.  20. 

2  Chronicii  Hibernise,  or  the  Annals  of  Philip  Flatsbury  (in  the  Cottonian 
Library,  Domitianus  XVIII.  10);  quoted  in  Stephen  on  West  India  Slavery, 
Vol.  I.  p.  6. 

8  Biographic  Ge"n#rale  (Hoefer),  Art  Patrice. 
4  Battle  of  Agincourt,  st  144. 

X 


402       WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBABY  STATES. 

And  Othello,  in  recounting  his  perils,  exposes  this  cus 
tom,  when  he  speaks 

"  Of  being  taken  by  the  insolent  foe 
Antt  uMl  to  ilnrei-y ;  of  my  redemption  thence." 

It  was  also  held  lawful  to  enslave  an  infidel,  or  person 
who  did  not  receive  the  Christian  faith.  The  early  Com 
mon  Law  of  England  doomed  heretics  to  the  stake  ;  the 
Catholic  Inquisition  did  the  same ;  and  the  laws  of 
Oleron,  the  maritime  code  of  the  Middle  Ages,  treated 
them  "  as  dogs,"  to  be  attacked  and  despoiled  by  all  true 
believers.  Philip  le  Bel  of  France,  grandson  of  St.  Louis, 
in  1296  presented  his  brother  Charles,  Count  of  Valois, 
with  a  Jew,  and  paid  three  hundred  livres  for  another 
Jew,  —  as  if  Jews  were  at  the  time  chattels,  to  be  given 
away  or  bought.1  The  statutes  of  Florence,  boastful  of 
freedom,  as  late  as  1415  allowed  republican  citizens  to 
hold  slaves  not  of  the  Catholic  Christian  faith, —  Qui 
non  stint  CatJwlicce  fidci  et  Christiancc?  Besides  captive 
Moors,  there  were  African  slaves  in  Spain,  before  Christo 
pher  Columbus ;  and  at  Venice  Marco  Polo  for  some  time 
held  a  slave  he  had  brought  from  the  Orient  in  the  age 
of  Dante.  The  comedies  of  Moliere,  LEtourdi  and  Le 
Sicilicn,  depicting  Italian  usages  not  remote  from  his 
day,  show  that  at  Messina  even  Christian  women  con 
tinued  to  be  sold  as  slaves. 

Tli is  rapid  sketch,  which  brings  us  down  to  the  pe 
riod  when  Algiers  became  a  terror  to  the  Christian  na 
tions,  renders  it  no  longer  astonishing  that  the  barbarous 
States  of  Barbary  —  a  part  of  Africa,  the  great  womb 
of  slavery,  professing  Mahometanism,  which  not  only 

l  Encyclopedic  M#thodique  (Jurisprudence),  Art  Etclatnge. 

*  Biot,  I>e  P Abolition  de  1'Esclavage  Ancien  en  Orri<l«»Mt,  p.  440,  —  a 
work  crowned  with  «  gold  medal  by  the  Institute  of  France,  which  will  be 
read  with  some  disappointment. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        403 

recognizes  slavery,  but  expressly  ordains  "chains  and 
collars"  to  infidels1  —  should  maintain  the  traffic  in 
slaves,  particularly  in  Christians,  denying  the  faith  of 
the  Prophet.  In  the  duty  of  constant  war  upon  unbe 
lievers,  and  in  the  assertion  of  right  to  the  service  or 
ransom  of  their  captives,  they  followed  the  lessons  of 
Christians  themselves. 

It  is  not  difficult,  then,  to  account  for  the  origin  of 
this  cruel  custom.     Its  history  forms  our  next  topic. 


II. 

HISTORY  OF  WHITE  SLAVERY. 

THE  Barbary  States,  after  the  decline  of  the  Arabian 
power,  were  enveloped  in  darkness,  rendered  more  pal 
pable  by  increasing  light  among  the  Christian  nations. 
At  the  twilight  of  European  civilization  they  appear 
to  be  little  more  than  scattered  bands  of  robbers  and 
pirates,  "land-rats  and  water-rats"  of  Shylock,  lead 
ing  the  lives  of  Ishmaelites.  Algiers  is  described  by  an 
early  writer  as  "a  den  of  sturdy  thieves  formed  into 
a  body,  by  which,  after  a  tumultuary  sort,  they  gov 
ern,"2—  and  by  still  another  writer,  contemporary  with 
the  monstrosity  which  he  exposes,  as  the  "  theatre  of  all 
crueltie  and  sanctuarie  of  iniquitie,  holding  captive,  in 
miserable  servitude,  one  hundred  and  twentie  thousand 
Christians,  almost  all  subjects  of  the  king  of  Spaine."  | 
Their  habit  of  enslaving  prisoners  captured  in  war  and 
piracy  arousing  at  last  the  sacred  animosities  of  Christen- 

1  Komn,  Chap.  LXXVI. 

2  A  Discourse  concerning  Tangier  :  Harleian  Miscellany,  VoL  V.  p.  H 
«  Purchas's  Pilgrims,  Vol.  II.  p.  1565. 


404        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

dom,  Ferdinand  the  Catholic,  after  the  conquest  of  Gm- 
nada,  and  while  the  boundless  discoveries  of  Columbus, 
giving  to  Castile  and  Leon  a  new  world,  still  occupied  his 
mind,  found  time  to  direct  an  expedition  into  Africa, 
under  the  military  command  of  that  great  ecclesiastic, 
Cardinal  Ximenes.  It  is  recorded  that  this  valiant  sol 
dier  of  the  Church,  on  effecting  the  conquest  of  Gran, 
in  1509,  had  the  inexpressible  satisfaction  of  liberating 
three  hundred  Christian  slaves.1 

To  stay  the  progress  of  the  Spanish  arms  the  govern 
ment  of  Algiers  invoked  assistance  from  abroad.  Two 
brothers,  Home  and  Hayradin,  sons  of  a  potter  in  the 
island  of  Lesbos,  had  become  famous  as  corsairs.  In  an 
age  when  the  sword  of  the  adventurer  often  carved  a 
higher  fortune  than  could  be  earned  by  lawful  exertion, 
they  were  dreaded  for  abilities,  hardihood,  and  power. 
To  them  Algiers  turned  for  aid.  The  corsairs  left  the 
sea  to  sway  the  land,  —  or  rather,  with  amphibious  rob 
bery,  took  possession  of  Algiers  and  Tunis,  while  they 
continued  to  prey  upon  the  sea.  The  name  of  Barba- 
rossa,  by  which  they  are  known  to  Christians,  is  terri 
ble  in  modern  history.2 

MILITARY  EXPEDITIONS  AGAINST  WHITE  SLAVERY. 

WITH  pirate  ships  they  infested  the  seas,  and  spread 
their  ravages  along  the  coasts  of  Spain  and  Italy,  until 
Charles  the  Fifth  was  aroused  to  undertake  their  over 
throw.  The  various  strength  of  his  broad  dominions 
was  rallied  in  this  new  crusade.  "  If  the  enthusiasm," 

i  Presort,  IIi«tory  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  Vol.  III.  p.  308.  Part-has'* 
Pilgrim*,  Vol.  IF.  p.  813. 

«  Robertson.  Hi«tory  of  Charle*  the  Fifth,  Book  V.  Haedo,  Historia  de 
Argel,  Epitome  de  los  Reyes  de  Argel. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES.        405 

says  Sismondi,  "  which  had  armed  the  Christians  in  the 
old  Crusades  was  nearly  extinct,  a  new  sentiment,  more 
rational  and  legitimate,  united  the  vows  of  Europe  with 
the  efforts  of  Charles  against  the  infidels.  The  object 
was  no  longer  to  reconquer  the  tomb  of  Christ,  but  to 
defend  the  civilization,  the  liberty,  the  lives  of  Chris 
tians."1  A  stanch  body  of  infantry  from  Germany, 
veterans  of  Spain  and  Italy,  the  flower  of  the  Spanish 
nobility,  knights  of  Malta,  with  a  fleet  of  near  five 
hundred  vessels,  contributed  by  Italy,  Portugal,  and 
even  distant  Holland,  commanded  by  Andrew  Doria,  the 
great  sea-officer  of  the  age,  —  the  whole  under  the  im 
mediate  eye  of  the  Emperor  himself,  with  the  counte 
nance  and  benediction  of  the  Pope,  and  composing  one 
of  the  most  complete  armaments  which  the  world  had 
hitherto  seen,  —  were  directed  upon  Tunis.  Barbarossa 
opposed  them  bravely,  but  with  unequal  forces.  While 
slowly  yielding  to  attack  from  without,  his  defeat  was 
hastened  by  unexpected  uprising  within.  Confined  in 
the  citadel  were  many  Christian  slaves,  who,  asserting 
the  rights  of  freedom,  obtained  a  bloody  emancipation, 
and  turned  its  artillery  against  their  former  masters. 
The  place  yielded  to  the  Emperor,  whose  soldiers  soon 
surrendered  to  the  inhuman  excesses  of  war.  The  blood 
of  thirty  thousand  innocent  inhabitants  reddened  his 
victory.  Amidst  these  scenes  of  horror  there  was  but 
one  spectacle  that  afforded  any  satisfaction  to  the  im 
perial  conqueror.  It  was  that  of  ten  thousand  Christian 
slaves  rejoicing  in  emancipation,  who  met  him  as  he  en 
tered  the  town,  and,  falling  on  their  knees,  thanked  him 
as  their  deliverer.  2 

1  Histoire  des  Francis,  Tom.  XVII.  pp.  101, 102. 

2  Robertson,  History  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  Book  V. 


406         WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

In  the  treaty  of  peace  which  ensued,  it  was  expressly 
stipulated  on  the  part  of  Tunis,  that  all  Christian  slaves, 
of  whatever  nation,  should  be  set  at  liberty  without  ran 
som,  ami  that  no  subject  of  the  Emperor  should  for  the 
future  be  detained  in  slavery.1 

The  apparent  generosity  of  this  undertaking,  the 
magnificence  with  which  it  was  conducted,  and  the 
success  with  which  it  was  crowned  drew  to  the  Em 
peror  the  homage  of  his  age  beyond  any  other  event  of 
his  reign.  Twenty  thousand  slaves  freed  by  treaty  or 
by  arms  diffused  through  Europe  the  praise  of  his 
name.  It  is  probable  that  in  this  expedition  the  Em 
peror  was  governed  by  motives  little  higher  than  vulgar 
ambition  and  fame ;  but  the  results  by  which  it  was 
emblazoned,  in  the  emancipation  of  so  many  fellow- 
Christians  from  cruel  chains,  place  him,  with  Cardinal 
Ximenes,  among  the  earliest  Abolitionists  of  modern 
times. 

This  was  in  1535.  Only  a  few  short  years  before,  in 
1517,  he  conceded  to  a  Flemish  courtier  the  exclu 
sive  privilege  of  importing  into  the  West  Indies  four 
thousand  blacks  from  Africa.  It  is  said  that  Charles 
lived  long  enough  to  repent  what  he  had  thus  incon 
siderately  done.2  Certain  it  is,  no  single  conces 
sion  of  king  or  emperor  recorded  in  history  has  pro 
duced  such  disastrous  far-reaching  consequences.  The 
Fleming  sold  his  monopoly  to  a  company  of  Genoese 
merchants,  who  organized  a  systematic  traffic  in  slaves 
between  Africa  anil  America.  Thus,  while  levying  a 
mighty  force  to  check  the  piracies  of  Barbarossa,  and  to 
procure  the  abolition  of  Christian  slavery  in  Tunis,  the 

1  Robertson.  History  of  Charts  the  Fifth.  Book  V. 

*  Clmrkson,  History  of  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave-Trade,  Vol.  I.  p.  88. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        407 

Emperor,  with  criminal  inconsistency,  laid  the  corner 
stone  of  a  "new  slavery,  in  comparison  with  which  the 
enormity  he  warred  against  was  trivial  and  fugitive. 

Elated  by  the  conquest  of  Tunis,  filled  also  with  the 
ambition  of  subduing  all  the  Barbaiy  States,  and  of 
extirpating  Christian  slavery,  the  Emperor  in  1541 
directed  an  expedition  of  singular  grandeur  against 
Algiers.  The  Pope  tardily  joined  his  influence  to  the 
martial  array.  But  Nature  proved  stronger  than  Pope 
and  Emperor.  Within  sight  of  Algiers  a  sudden  storm 
shattered  his  proud  fleet,  and  he  was  driven  back  to 
Spain,  discomfited,  with  none  of  those  trophies  of 
emancipation  with  which  his  former  expedition  was 
crowned.1 

The  power  of  the  Barbary  States  was  now  at  its 
height.  Their  corsairs  became  the  scourge  of  Christen 
dom,  while  their  much  dreaded  system  of  slavery  as 
sumed  a  front  of  new  terror.  Their  ravages  were  not 
confined  to  the  Mediterranean.  They  entered  the 
ocean,  and  penetrated  even  to  the  Straits  of  Dover  and 
St.  George's  Channel.  From  the  chalky  cliffs  of  Eng 
land,  and  from  the  remote  western  coasts  of  Ireland, 
unsuspecting  inhabitants  were  swept  into  cruel  cap 
tivity.2  The  English  government  was  aroused  against 

1  Robertson's  Charles  the  Fifth,  Book  VI.  A  lamentable  and  piteous 
Treatise,  verye  necessarye  for  euerie  Christen  Mnnne  to  reade,  wliorin 
is  contayned,  not  onely  the  high  Entreprise  and  Valeauntnes  of  Thomporour 
Charles  the  v.  and  his  Army  (in  his  Voyage  made  to  the  Towne  of  Argier 
in  Affrique,  etc.)  Truly  and  dylygently  translated  out  of  Lntyn  into 
Frenche,  and  out  of  Frenche  into  English,  1642:  Harleian  Miscellany, 
Vol.  IV.  p.  604. 

3  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  Revolution  d'Angleterre,  Liv.  II.  Tom.  I. 
Stratford's  Letters  and  Dispatches,  Vol.  I.  p.  68.    Sir  George  Rttddiir.\  tli.- 
friend  and  biographer  of  the  Earl,  boasts  that  tlio  latter  "M-run-d  the  MM 
from  piracies,  so  as  only  one  ship  was  lost  at  his  first  coining  |M*  I.or  I 
Lieutenant  to  Ireland],  and  no  more  all  his  time  ;   whereas  every  year 


408        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE  BABBARY  STATES. 

these  atrocities.  In  1620,  a  fleet  of  eighteen  ships, 
under  the  command  of  Sir  Robert  Mansel,  Vice-Ad- 
miral,  was  despatched  to  punish  Algiers.  It  returned 
without  being  able,  in  the  language  of  the  times,  to 
"  destroy  those  hellish  pirates,"  though  it  obtained  the 
liberation  of  "  some  forty  poore  captives,  which  they 
pretended  was  all  they  had  in  the  towne."  Purchas 
records,  that  the  English  fleet  was  indebted  for  informa 
tion  to  "  a  Christian  captive,  which  did  swimine  from 
the  towne  to  the  ships." 1  Not  in  this  respect  only  does 
this  expedition  recall  that  of  Charles  the  Fifth,  which 
received  important  assistance  from  rebel  slaves;  we 
observe  also  a  similar  inconsistency  in  the  government 
which  directed  it.  It  was  in  the  year  1620,  —  dear 
to  all  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth 
Hock  as  an  epoch  of  freedom,  —  while  an  English  fleet 
was  seeking  the  emancipation  of  Englishmen  held  in 
bondage  by  Algiers,  that  African  slaves  were  first  in 
troduced  into  the  English  colonies  of  North  America,2 
thus  beginning  that  dreadful  system  whose  long  cata 
logue  of  humiliation  and  woes  is  not  yet  complete. 

The  expedition  against  Algiers  was  followed,  in  1637, 
by  another  against  Sallee,  in  Morocco.  Terrified  by  its 
approach,  the  Moors  desperately  transferred  a  thousand 
captives,  British  subjects,  to  Tunis  and  Algiers.  "  Some 

before,  not  only  several  i«hlp*  nnd  goods  Trere  lost  by  robbery  »t  *ea,  but 
nNo  TurkNh  men-of-war  ii«nnlly  landed  and  toot  prry  of  men  to  be  made 
tlartt."  —  Ibid  .  Vol.  II.  p.  434 

1  Piirclin-'-i  1'il^rim*.  Vol.  II.  pp.  881-886.  Roiithey,  N':iv:il  History  of 
England,  Vol.  V.  pp.  60-63.  There  was  a  publication  specially  relating 
to  this  expedition,  entitled  "  Algiers  Voyage,  in  a  .lonmnll,  or  briofc  Re|x>r- 
tary  of  nil  Occnrrents  bapning  in  the  Fleet  of  Ships  settf  out  by  the  Kinge 
his  most  excellent  Majestic,  as  well  ngainut  the  Pirates  of  Algiers  as  others," 
London,  1621,  4to. 

3  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  I.  p.  189. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES.        409 

Christians  that  were  slaves  ashore,  who  stole  away  out 
of  the  town  and  came  swimming  aboard,"  together  with 
intestine  feud,  aided  the  fleet,  and  the  cause  of  emanci 
pation  speedily  triumphed.1  Two  hundred  and  ninety 
Britons  were  released,  and  a  promise  was  extorted  from 
the  enemy  to  redeem  the  wretched  captives  sold  away 
to  Tunis  and  Algiers.  Shortly  afterwards  an  ambas 
sador  from  the  King  of  Morocco  visited  England,  and 
on  his  way  through  the  streets  of  London  to  his  au 
dience  at  court  was  attended  by  "  four  Barbary  horses 
led  along  in  rich  caparisons,  and  richer  saddles,  with 
bridles  set  with  stones  ;  also  some  hawks ;  many  of  Hit, 
captives  wlwm  he  brought  over  going  along  afoot  clad  in 
white"  2  Every  emancipated  slave  was  a  grateful  wit 
ness  to  English  prowess. 

The  importance  attached  to  this  achievement  is  in 
ferred  from  the  singular  joy  with  which  it  was  hailed  in 
England.  Though  on  a  limited  scale,  it  was  nothing  less 
than  a  war  of  liberation.  Poet,  ecclesiastic,  and  states 
man  now  joined  in  congratulation.  It  inspired  the  Muse 
of  Waller  to  a  poem  called  "  The  Taking  of  Sallee,"  where 
the  submission  of  the  slaveholder  is  thus  described :  — 

"  Hither  he  sends  the  chief  among  his  peers, 
Who  in  his  bark  proportioned  presents  bears 
To  the  renowned  for  piety  and  force, 
Poor  captives  manumised,  and  matchless  horse." 

It  gladdened  Laud,  and 'lighted  with  exultation  the  dark 
mind  of  Strafford.  "  For  Sallee,  the  town  is  taken,"  said 
the  Archbishop  in  a  letter  to  the  Earl,  then  in  Ireland, 
"  and  all  the  captives  at  Sallee  and  Morocco  delivered, 
—  as  many,  our  merchants  say,  as,  according  to  tht  pne$ 

i  Journal  of  the  Sallee  Fleet:  Osborne's  Voyage*,  Vol.  II.  p.  498.    8«e 
also  Mrs.  Macaulay's  History  of  England,  Chap.  IV.  Voh  II.  p.  tlfc 
a  Strafford's  Letters  and  Despatches,  Vol.  II.  pp.  86,  110,  128. 
VOL.   I.  18 


410        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BAKBARY   STATES. 

of  the  market,  come  to  ten  thousand  pounds  at  least."  1 
Stratford  saw  in  the  popularity  of  this  triumph  fresh 
opportunity  to  commend  the  tyrannical  designs  of 
Charles  the  First.  "  This  action  of  Sallee,"  he  wrote 
in  reply  to  the  Archbishop,  "  I  assure  you,  is  full  of  hon 
or,  will  bring  great  content  to  the  subject,  and  should, 
methinks,  help  much  towards  the  ready,  cheerful  pay 
ment  of  the  shipping  moneys."  a  Thus  was  this  act  of 
emancipation  linked  with  one  of  the  most  memorable 
events  of  English  history. 

The  coasts  of  England  were  now  protected ;  but  her 
subjects  at  sea  continued  the  prey  of  Algerine  corsairs, 
who,  according  to  the  historian  Carte,  now  "carried 
their  English  captives  to  France,  drove  them  in  chains 
overland  to  Marseille,  to  ship  them  thence  with  greater 
safety  for  slaves  to  Algiers"9  The  increasing  troubles 
which  distracted  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  and 
finally  brought  his  head  to  the  block,  could  not  divert 
attention  from  the  sorrows  of  Englishmen,  victims  to 
Mahometan  slave-drivers.  At  the  height  of  the  strug 
gle  between  King  and  Parliament,  an  earnest  voice  was 
raised  in  behalf  of  these  fellow-Christians  in  bonds. 
Edmund  Waller,  who  was  orator  as  well  as  poet,  speak 
ing  in  Parliament  in  1641,  said,  "  By  the  many  pe 
titions  which  we  receive  from  the  wives  of  those 
miserable  captives  at  Algiers  (being  between  four  or 
five  thousand  of  our  countrymen)  it  does  too  evident 
ly  appear  that  to  make  us  slaves  at  home  is  not  tin- 
way  to  keep  us  from  being  made  slaves  abroad."4 

l  Straffbrd's  letters  and  Despatches,  Vol.  II.  p.  181. 
«  Ibid.,  p.  138. 

«  History  of  England,  Book  XXII.  Vol.  IV.  p.  231. 
*  Works,  p.  270. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        411 

Publications  pleading  their  cause  are  yet  extant,  bear 
ing  date  1637,  1640,  1642,  and  1647.1  The  overthrow 
of  an  oppression  so  justly  odious  formed  a  worthy  ob 
ject  for  the  imperial  energies  of  Cromwell ;  and  in  1655, 
when,  amidst  the  amazement  of  Europe,  the  English 
sovereignty  settled  upon  his  Atlantean  shoulders,  he 
directed  into  the  Mediterranean  a  navy  of  thirty  ships, 
under  the  command  of  Admiral  Blake.  This  was  the 
most  powerful  English  force  which  had  sailed  into 
that  sea  since  the  Crusades. 2  Its  success  was  com 
plete.  "  General  Blak,"  said  one  of  the  foreign  agents 
of  Government,  "  has  ratifyed  the  articles  of  peace 
at  Argier,  and  included  therein  Scotch,  Irish,  Jara- 
sey  and  Garnsey-men,  and  all  others  the  Protector's 
subjects.  He  has  lykewys  redeemed  from  thence  al 
such  as  wer  captives  ther.  Several  Duch  captives  swam 
aboard  the  fleet,  and  so  escape  tlieyr  captivity" 8  Tunis, 
as  well  as  Algiers,  was  humbled ;  all  British  captives 
were  set  at  liberty ;  and  the  Protector,  in  his  remark 
able  speech  at  the  opening  of  Parliament,  announced 

1  Compassion  towards  Captives:  urged  and  pressed  in  Three  Sermons  on 
Heb.  xiii.  3,  by  Charles  Fitz-Geffry,  Oxford,  1637.  Libertas,  or  Reliefe  to  the 
English  Captives  in  Algier,  by  Henry  Robinson,  London,  1642.  Letters  re 
lating  to  the  Redemption  of  the  Captives  in  Argier  and  Tunis,  by  Edmond 
Cason,  London,  1647.  A  Relation  of  Seven  Years  Slavery  under  the  Turb*  of 
Algier,  suffered  by  an  English  Captive  Merchant,  etc.,  together  with  a  De 
scription  of  the  Sufferings  of  the  Miserable  Captives  under  that  Merciless 
Tyranny,  etc.,  by  Francis  Knight,  London,  1640.  The  last  publication  is  pre 
served  in  the  Collection  of  Voyages  and  Travels  by  Osborne,  Vol.  II.  pp. 
465-489. 

a  Hume  says,  "  No  English  fleet,  except  during  the  Crusades  kad  evrr 
before  tailed  in  thote  seas.'"  (History  of  England,  Chap.  LXI.  Vol.  VII.  p. 
629.)  He  forgot  the  expedition  of  Sir  Robert  Mansel,  already  mention**! 
(ante,  p.  408),  which  was  elaborately  debated  in  the  Privy  Council  as  early 
as  1617,  three  years  before  it  was  finally  undertaken,  and  was  the  Mibjwt 
of  a  special  work.  See  Sonthey's  Naval  History  of  England,  Vol.  V.  pp. 
149-167. 

»  Thurloe's  State  Papers,  Vol.  III.  p.  627. 


412        WHITE  SLAVERY   IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

peace  with  the  "  profane "  nations  in  that  region.1  To 
my  mind  no  single  circumstance  gives  higher  impres 
sion  of  that  vigilance  with  which  the  Protector  guarded 
his  subjects  than  this  effort,  to  which  may  be  applied 
the  "smooth"  line  of  Waller, — 

"  telling  dreadful  news 
To  all  that  piracy  and  rapine  use."  a 

His  vigorous  sway  was  succeeded  by  the  voluptuous 
tyranny  of  Charles  the  Second,  inaugurated  by  an  un 
successful  expedition  against  Algiers  under  Lord  Sand 
wich.  This  was  soon  followed  by  another,  with  more 
favorable  result,  under  Admiral  Lawson.8  Then  came 
a  treaty,  bearing  date  May  3,  1662,  by  which  the  pi 
ratical  government  stipulated,  "  that  all  subjects  of  the 
king  of  Great  Britain,  now  slaves  in  Algiers,  or  any  of 
the  territories  thereof,  shall  be  set  at  liberty,  and  re 
leased,  upon  paying  the  price  they  were  first  sold  for 
in  the  market;  and  for  the  time  to  come  no  subjects 
of  His  Majesty  shall  be  bought  or  sold,  or  made  slaves 
of,  in  Algiers  or  its  territories."4  This  seems  to  have 
been  short-lived.  Other  expeditions  ensued,  and  other 
treaties  in  1664,  1672,  1682,  and  1686,  —  showing,  by 
their  constant  iteration,  the  little  impression  produced 
upon  these  barbarians.6  Insensible  to  justice  and  free 
dom,  how  could  they  be  faithful  to  stipulations  in  re 
straint  of  robbery  and  slaveholding  ? 

Legislation  turned  aside  in  behalf  of  these  captives. 
The  famous  statute  of  the  forty-third  year  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  for  charitable  uses  designates  among  proper 

l  Carlyle's  Letters  and  Speeches  of  Cromwell,  Part  IX.  Speech  V.  VoL 
II.  p.  286. 
8  Panegyric  to  my  Lord  Protector,  *t.  9. 

•  Rapin,  History  of  England,  Book  XXIII.  Vol.  II.  pp.  868,  864. 
<  Recueil  dex  fraitez  de  Paix,  Tom.  IV.  p.  43. 

•  Ibid,  pp.  807,  478,  708,  766. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBAHY   STATES.        413 

objects  the  "relief  or  redemption  of  prisoners  or  cap 
tives,"  meaning  especially,  according  to  recent  judicial 
decision,  those  suffering  in  the  Barbary  States.  A  be 
quest  by  Lady  Mico,  in  1670,  "  to  redeem  poor  slaves  in 
what  manner  the  executors  should  think  convenient," 
came  under  review  as  late  as  1835,  when  slavery  in  the 
Barbary  States  was  already  dead,  and  the  British  Act  of 
Emancipation  had  commenced  its  operation  in  the  West 
Indies ;  but  the  court  sanctioned  the  application  of  the 
fund  to  the  education  of  the  Africans  whose  freedom 
was  then  beginning.1  Thus  was  a  charity  originally 
inspired  by  sympathy  for  white  slaves  applied  to  the 
benefit  of  black. 

During  a  long  succession  of  years,  complaints  of  Eng 
lish  captives  continued.  In  1748  an  indignant  soul 
found  expression  in  these  words  :  — 

"  0,  how  can  Britain's  sons  regardless  hear 
The  prayers,  sighs,  groans  (immortal  infamy  !) 
Of  fellow-Britons,  with  oppression  sunk, 
In  bitterness  of  soul  demanding  aid, 
Calling  on  Britain,  their  dear  native  land, 
The  land  of  liberty?  "3 

But  during  all  this  time  the  slavery  of  blacks,  trans 
ported  to  the  colonies  under  British  colors,  continued 
also ! 

Meanwhile  France  plied  Algiers  with  embassies  and 
bombardments.  In  1635  three  hundred  and  forty-seven 
Frenchmen  were  captives  there.  M.  de  Samson  was 
dispatched  on  an  unsuccessful  mission  for  their  libera 
tion.  They  were  offered  to  him  "  for  the  price  they  were 
sold  for  in  the  market";  but  this  he  refused  to  pay.8 

l  Attorney-General  v.  Gibson,  2  Beav.  R.  817,  note, 
a  The  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  631. 
«  Relation  of  Seven  Years  Slavery  under  the  Turk*  of  Algier:  0 
Voyages,  Vol.  II.  p.  468. 


414        WHITE  SLAVERY   IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

Two  years  later,  M.  de  Manti,  who  was  called  "that 
noble  captain,  and  glory  of  the  French  nation,"  was  sent 
"  with  fifteen  of  his  kind's  ships,  and  a  commission  to 
enfranchise  the  French  slaves."  He  also  returned,  leav 
ing  his  countrymen  still  in  captivity.1  Treaties  fol 
lowed,  hastily  concluded,  and  abruptly  broken,  till  at 
last  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  in  the  pride  of  power,  did  for 
France  what  Cromwell  had  done  for  England.  Algiers, 
twice  bombarded2  in  1683,  sent  deputies  to  sue  for 
peace,  and  to  surrender  all  her  Christian  slaves.  Tunis 
and  Tripoli  made  the  same  submission.  Voltaire,  with 
his  accustomed  point,  says  that  by  this  transaction  the 
French  became  respected  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  where 
they  had  before  been  known  only  as  slaves.8 

An  unhappy  incident  is  mentioned  by  the  historian, 
which  attests  how  little  the  French  at  that  time,  even 
while  engaged  in  securing  the  redemption  of  their  own 
countrymen,  cared  for  the  cause  of  general  freedom.  An 
officer  of  the  triumphant  fleet,  receiving  the  Christian 
slaves  surrendered  to  him,  observed  among  them  many 
English,  who,  with  national  vainglory,  maintained  that 
they  were  set  at  liberty  out  of  regard  to  the  king  of  Eng- 

1  Relation  of  Seven  Years  Slavery :  Osborne's  Voyage*,  Vol.  IT.  p.  470. 

*  In  the  melancholy  history  of  war.  this  is  remarked  as  the  earliest  In 
stance  of  bombarding  a  town.     Sismondi,  who  never  fails  to  regard  the  past 
in  the  light  of  humanity,  remark*,  that  "  Louis  the  Fourteenth  was  the  first 
to  put  in  practice  the  atrocious  method,  newly  invented,  of  bombarding 
towns,  —  of  burning  them,  not  to  take  them,  but  to  destroy  them,  —  of  at 
tacking,  nal  fort  ifi cut  innt,  but  prirate  hotuet,  not  mldirrt,  but  peaceable  inhnbl- 
anlt,  tmmrn  and  ctiiUrrn,  —  and  of  confounding  thoutnndt  of  private  crime*, 
tack  one  oftehick  trould  caute  horror,  in  one  great  public  crime,  one  great  dit- 
aiter,  tchi<h  he  rrffattlrd  only  m  one  of  the  catadrophti  of  tear."     (Histoire 
des  Francais,  Tom.  XXV.  p.  4.r>2.)     How  much  of  this  is  justly  applicable 
to  the  recent  sacrifice  of  women   and   children  !>y  forro*  <>f  the   I'nited 
States  at  Vera  Cmz!     Algiers  was  bombarded  in  the  cause  of  freedom; 
Vera  Cruz,  to  extend  ilnrery! 

•  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  Chap.  XIV. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES.        415 

land.  At  once  the  Frenchman  summoned  the  Algerines, 
and,  returning  the  foolish  captives  into  their  hands,  said  : 
"  These  people  pretend  that  they  have  been  delivered  in 
the  name  of  their  monarch.  Mine  does  not  take  the 
liberty  to  offer  them  his  protection.  I  return  them  to 
you.  It  is  for  you  to  show  what  you  owe  to  the  king  of 
England."  l  The  Englishmen  were  hurried  again  to  pro 
longed  slavery.  The  power  of  Charles  the  Second  was 
impotent  in  their  behalf,  as  was  the  sense  of  justice  and 
humanity  in  the  French  officer  or  the  Algerine  slave- 
masters. 

I  cannot  pause  to  develop  the  course  of  other  efforts 
by  France ;  nor  can  I  dwell  upon  the  determined  conduct 
of  Holland,  one  of  whose  greatest  naval  commanders, 
Admiral  de  Ruyter,  in  1661,  enforced  at  Algiers  the 
emancipation  of  several  hundred  Christian  slaves.2  The 
inconsistency  which  we  have  before  remarked  appears 
also  in  these  two  powers.  Both,  while  using  their  best 
endeavors  for  the  freedom  of  their  white  people,  were 
cruelly  engaged  selling  blacks  into  distant  American 
slavery, —  as  if  eveiy  word  of  reprobation  fastened  upon 
the  piratical,  slave-driving  Algerines  did  not  return  in 
eternal  judgment  against  themselves. 

REDEMPTION  OF  WHITE  SLAVES. 

THUS  far  I  have  followed  the  history  of  military  ex 
peditions.  War  has  been  our  melancholy  burden.  But 
peaceful  measures  were  employed  to  procure  the  redemp 
tion  of  slaves,  and  money  sometimes  accomplished  what 
was  vainly  attempted  by  the  sword.  In  furtherance  of 

l  Voltaire,  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV.,  Chnp.  XIV. 
3  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  441. 


416        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

this  object,  missions  were  often  sent  which  could  not  be 
disregarded.  These  sometimes  had  a  formal  diplomatic 
organization  ;  sometimes  they  consisted  of  fathers  of  the 
Church,  who  held  it  a  sacred  office  to  open  the  prison- 
doors  and  let  the  captives  go  free.1  It  was  through  the 
intervention  of  superiors  of  the  Order  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  dispatched  to  Algiers  by  Philip  the  Second  of 
Spain,  that  Cervantes  obtained  his  ransom,  in  1580.* 
Expeditions  of  commerce  often  served  to  promote  similar 
designs  of  charity ;  and  England,  forgetting  or  distrust 
ing  all  her  sleeping  thunder,  sometimes  condescended 
to  barter  articles  of  merchandise  for  the  liberty  of  her 
subjects.3 

Private  effort  often  secured  the  liberation  of  slaves. 
Friends  at  home  naturally  exerted  themselves,  and  many 
families  were  straitened  by  generous  contributions  for 

1  To  the  relations  of  these  missions  we  are  indebted  for  works  of  interest 
on  the  Barbnry  States,  some  of  which  I  am  able  to  mention.  Busnot,  Ilittoire 
du  R-gnt,  de  Mulry  Itmntl,  a  Rouen,  1714.  This  is  by  a  father  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  and  was  translated  into  English.  J.  B.  de  la  Fare,  Relation,  en 
Forme  de  Journal,  du  Voyage  aux  Royaumet  de  Tvnit  tt  d'Atger  pour  la 
Redemption  det  Giptifi.  a  Paris,  1726.  Vtryage  to  Barbnry  fur  (he  Redemp 
tion  of  Capticet  in  1720,  by  the  .Vathurin-  Trinitarian  Fi'theri,  London,  1735. 
This  is  a  translation  from  the  French.  Braithwaite's  History  of  the  Rerolu- 
tiont  in  the  Empire  of  Morocco,  London,  1729.  This  contains  a  journal 
of  the  mission  of  John  Russel,  Esq.,  from  the  English  government,  t<>  obtain 
the  liberation  of  slaves  in  Morocco.  The  expedition  was  thoroughly  equip 
ped.  "  The  Moors,"  says  the  author,  "  find  plenty  of  everything  but  drink, 
but  for  that  the  English  generally  take  care  of  themselves  ;  for,  besides 
chairs,  tables,  knives,  forks,  plates,  table-linen,  &c.,  we  had  two  or  three 
mules  loaded  with  wine,  brandy,  sugar,  and  utensils  for  punch." — p.  82. 

*  Roscoe,  Life  of  Cervantes,  p.  43. 

'  Witness  an  illustrative  record.  "  The  following  goods,  designed  as  a 
present  from  his  Mnje*ty  to  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  to  redeem  near  one  hundred 
English  captives  lately  taken,  were  entered  at  the  custom-house,  viz.: 
20  pieces  of  broadcloth,  2  piece*  of  brocade,  2  pieces  of  silver  tabby,  1  piece 
of  green  damnsk.  8  pieces  of  Holland,  16  pieces  of  cambric,  a  gold  repeating 
watch,  4  silver  ditto,  20  pound  of  tea,  800  of  loaf-sugar,  5  fusees,  5  pair  of 
pistols,  an  e«crut»ire,  2  clocks,  and  a  box  of  toys." — Gentleman's  Maga 
zine,  1784,  Vol.  IV.  p.  104. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        417 

this  purpose.  The  widowed  mother  of  Cervantes  sacri 
ficed  the  entire  pittance  that  remained  to  her,  including 
the  dowry  of  her  daughters,  to  aid  the  emancipation  of 
her  son.  An  Englishman,  of  whose  doleful  captivity 
there  is  a  record  in  the  memoirs  of  his  son,  obtained  his 
redemption  through  the  earnest  efforts  of  his  wife  at  home. 
"  She  resolved,"  says  the  story,  "  to  use  all  the  means 
that  lay  in  her  power  for  his  freedom,  though  she  left 
nothing  for  herself  and  children  to  subsist  upon.  She 
was  forced  to  put  to  sale,  as  she  did,  some  plate,  gold 
rings,  and  bracelets,  and  some  part  of  her  household 
goods,  to  make  up  his  ransom,  which  came  to  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  sterling."  l  In  1642  four 
French  brothers  were  ransomed  at  the  price  of  six  thou 
sand  dollars.  At  this  same  period  the  sum  exacted  for 
the  poorest  Spaniard  was  "  a  thousand  shillings,"  while 
the  Genoese,  "  if  under  twenty-two  years  of  age,  were 
freed  for  a  hundred  pounds  sterling."  2  These  charitable 
efforts  were  aided  by  the  co-operation  of  benevolent 
persons.  George  Fox  interceded  for  several  Quakers, 
slaves  in  Algiers,  writing  "  a  book  to  the  Grand  Sultan 
and  the  king  at  Algiers,  wherein  he  laid  before  them 
their  indecent  behavior  and  unreasonable  dealings,  show 
ing  them  from  their  Alcoran  that  this  displeased  God, 
and  that  Mahomet  had  given  them  other  directions." 
Here  was  the  customary  plainness  of  the  Quaker.  Some 
time  elapsed  before  an  opportunity  was  found  to  redeem 
them ;  "  but  in  the  mean  while  they  so  faithfully  served 
their  masters,  that  they  were  suffered  to  go  loose  through 
the  town,  without  being  chained  or  fettered."  * 

1  Memoirs  of  Abrnhnm  Brown,  MS. 

2  Relation  of  Seven  Year*  Slavery:  0«borne'«  Voyages,  VoL  IL  p.  489. 
8  Sewel's  History  of  the  Quakers,  p.  397. 

18*  A  A 


418        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

As  early  as  the  thirteenth  century,  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  Pope  Innocent  the  Third,  an  important  associa 
tion  was  organized  to  promote  emancipation.  This  was 
known  as  the  Society  of  the  Fathers  of  Redemption.1 
During  many  successive  generations  its  blessed  labors 
were  continued,  amidst  the  praise  and  sympathy  of 
generous  men.  History,  undertaking  to  recount  its  ori 
gin,  and  filled  with  a  grateful  sense  of  its  extraordinary 
merits,  attributed  it  to  the  inspiration  of  an  angel  in  the 
sky,  clothed  in  resplendent  light,  holding  a  Christian 
captive  in  the  right  hand  and  a  Moor  in  the  left.  The 
pious  Spaniard  who  narrates  the  marvel  earnestly  de 
clares  that  this  institution  of  beneficence  was  the  work, 
not  of  men,  but  of  the  great  God  alone  ;  and  he  dwells, 
with  more  than  the  warmth  of  history,  on  the  glory 
filling  the  lives  of  its  associates,  surpassing  far  that  of  a 
Roman  triumph  ;  for  they  share  the  name  as  well  as  the 
labors  of  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  to  whose  spirit  they 
are  heirs,  and  to  whose  works  they  are  successors. 
"Lucullus,"  he  says,  "affirmed  that  it  were  better  to 
liberate  a  single  Roman  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy 
than  to  gain  all  their  wealth  ;  but  how  much  greater  the 
gain,  more  excellent  the  glory,  and  more  than  human  is 
it  to  redeem  a  captive  !  For  whosoever  redeems  him 
liberates  him  not  alone  from  one  death,  but  from  death 
in  a  thousand  ways,  and  those  ever  present,  and  also 
from  a  thousand  afflictions,  a  thousand  miseries,  a  thou 
sand  torments  and  fearful  travails,  more  cruel  than  death 
itself."  a  The  genius  of  Cervantes  has  left  a  record  of 
his  gratitude  to  this  Antislavery  Society,8  —  herald  of 
others  whose  mission  is  not  yet  finished.  Throughout 


l  Riot.  !><•  1*  Abolition  de  I'EMlavBge  Ancien  en  Occident,  p.  437. 

*  Haedo,  Dialog*  I.  de  la  Captiridad:  Hintoria  de  Argel,  pp  142-144. 

•  Rotcoe,  Life  of  Cervantes,  p.  60.    See  his  »tory  of  Ltpnttula  Inyltia. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        419 

Spain  annual  contributions  for  it  continued  to  be  taken 
during  many  years.  Nor  in  Spain  only  did  it  awaken 
sympathy.  In  Italy  and  France  also  it  labored  success 
fully;  and  as  late  as  1748,  inspired  by  a  similar  catholic 
spirit,  if  not  by  its  example,  a  proposition  appeared  in 
England  to  "  form  a  society  to  carry  on  the  truly  chari 
table  design  "  of  emancipating  sixty-four  English  slaves 
in  Morocco.1 


CONSPIRACIES  FOR  FREEDOM. 

WAR  and  ransom  were  not  the  only  agents.  Even  if 
history  were  silent,  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 
slaves  of  African  Barbary  endured  their  lot  without 
struggles  for  freedom. 

"  Since  the  first  moment  they  put  on  my  chains, 
I  've  thought  of  nothing  but  the  weight  of  'em, 
And  how  to  throw  'em  off."  a 

These  are  words  of  the  slave  in  a  play ;  but  they  express 
the  natural  inborn  sentiments  of  all  with  intelligence  to 
appreciate  the  precious  boon  of  freedom.  "  Thanks  be 
to  God  for  so  great  mercies!"  says  the  Captive  in  Don 
Quixote ;  "  for  in  my  opinion  there  is  no  happiness  on 
earth  equal  to  that  of  recovering  lost  liberty."  8  And  plain 
Thomas  Phelps, — once  a  slave  at  Mequinez  in  Morocco, 
whence,  in  1685,  he  fortunately  escaped, — narrating  his 
adventures  and  sufferings,  breaks  forth  in  similar  strain. 
"  Since  my  escape,"  he  says,  "  from  captivity,  and  worse 
than  Egyptian  bondage,  I  have,  methinks,  enjoyed  a  hap- 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine,  Vol.  XVIII.  p.  418. 

*  Southeme,  Oroonoko,  Act  HI.  Sc.  2.  It  is  not  strange  that  the  «nH»lft- 
very  character  of  this  play  rendered  it  unpopular  at  Liverpool,  while  pros 
perous  merchants  there  were  concerned  in  the  slave-trade. 

8  Don  Quixote,  Part  I.  Book  IV.  Chap.  12. 


420        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

piness  with  which  my  former  life  was  never  acquainted; 
now  that,  after  a  storm  and  terrible  tempest,  I  have,  by 
miracle,  put  into  a  safe  and  quiet  harbor,  after  a  most 
miserable  slavery  to  the  most  unreasonable  and  bar 
barous  of  men,  now  that  I  enjoy  the  immunities  and 
freedom  of  my  native  country  and  the  privileges  of  a 
subject  of  England,  although  my  circumstances  other 
wise  are  but  indifferent,  yet  I  find  I  am  affected  with 
extraordinary  emotions  and  singular  transports  of  joy ; 
now  I  know  what  liberty  is,  and  can  put  a  value  and 
make  a  just  estimate  of  that  happiness  which  before  I 
never  well  understood.  ....  Health  can  be  but  slightly 
esteemed  by  him  who  never  was  acquainted  with  pain 
or  sickness ;  and  liberty  and  freedom  are  the  happi 
ness  only  valuable  by  a  reflection  on  captivity  and  slav 
ery."  l  Thus  from  every  quarter  gathers  the  cloud  of 
witnesses. 

The  history  of  Algiers  abounds  in  well-authenticated 
examples  of  conspiracy  against  Government  by  Christian 
slaves :  so  strong  was  the  passion  for  escape.  In  1531 
and  1559  two  separate  schemes  were  matured,  promis 
ing  for  a  while  entire  success.  The  slaves  were  numer 
ous  ;  keys  to  open  the  prisons  had  been  forged,  and  arms 
supplied  ;  but  the  treachery  of  one  of  their  number  be 
trayed  the  plot  to  the  Dey,  who  sternly  doomed  the 
conspirators  to  the  bastinado  and  the  stake.  Cervantes, 
during  his  captivity,  nothing  daunted  by  disappointed 
efforts,  and  the  terrible  vengeance  which  attended  them, 
conceived  the  plan  of  a  general  slave  insurrection,  with 
the  overthrow  of  the  Algerine  power,  and  the  surrender 
of  the  city  to  the  Spanish  crown.  This  was  in  accord 

1  True  Account  of  the  Captivity  of  Thomas  Phelps :  Osborne's  Voyages, 
Vol.  II.  p.  600. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES.        421 

with  that  sentiment  to  which  he  gives  such  famous 
utterance  in  his  writings,  that  "  for  liberty  we  ought  to 
risk  life  itself,  slavery  being  the  greatest  evil  that  can 
fall  to  the  lot  of  man."  l  As  late  as  1763  there  was  a 
similar  insurrection  or  conspiracy.  "  Last  month,"  says 
a  journal  of  high  authority,  "  the  Christian  slaves  at 
Algiers,  to  the  number  of  four  thousand,  rose  and  killed 
their  guards,  and  massacred  all  who  came  in  their  way  ; 
but  after  some  hours'  carnage,  during  which  the  streets 
ran  with  blood,  peace  was  restored."  2  How  truly  is 
bloodshed  the  natural  incident  of  slavery ! 


EFFOETS  TO  ESCAPE  FROM  SLAVERY. 

THE  struggles  for  freedom  could  not  always  assume 
the  shape  of  conspiracy.  They  were  often  efforts  to 
escape,  sometimes  in  numbers  and  sometimes  singly. 
The  captivity  of  Cervantes  was  filled  with  such,  where, 
though  constantly  balked,  he  persevered  with  courage 
and  skill.  On  one  occasion  he  attempted  to  escape  by 
land  to  Oran,  a  Spanish  settlement  on  the  coast,  but, 
being  deserted  by  his  guide,  was  compelled  to  return.8 
Another  endeavor  was  promoted  by  Christian  merchants 
at  Algiers,  through  whose  agency  a  vessel  was  actually 
purchased  for  this  purpose.  And  still  another  was  fa 
vored  by  a  number  of  his  own  countrymen,  hovering  on 
the  coast  in  a  vessel  from  Majorca,  who  did  not  think  it 

1  Roscoe,  Life  of  Cervantes,  pp  82,  810,  811.    In  the  same  spirit  Thomas 
Phelps  says,  "I  looked  upon  my  condition  as  desperate;  my  forlor 
languishing  state  of  life,  without  any  hope   of  redemption,  nppenred  far 
worse  than  the  terrors  of  a  most  cruel  death."  —  Osborne's  Voyage*,  Vol. 
II.  p.  604. 

2  Annual  Register,  1763,  Vol.  VI.  p.  60]. 
a  El  Trato  de  ArgeL 


422        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   TIIE   BARBARY  STATES. 

wrong  to  aid  in  the  liberation  of  slaves.  And  this  was 
supposed  to  be  aided  by  a  Spanish  ecclesiastic,  Father 
Olivar,  who,  being  at  Algiers  for  the  ransom  of  slaves, 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  lend  generous  assist 
ance  to  the  struggles  of  fellow-Christians  in  bonds.  He 
paid  the  bitter  penalty  which  similar  service  to  freedom 
has  found  elsewhere  and  in  another  age.  He  was  seized 
by  the  Dey,  and  thrown  into  chains ;  for  the  Algerine 
government  held  it  a  high  offence  to  further  in  any  way 
the  escape  of  a  slave.1 

Endeavors  for  freedom  are  animating;  nor  can  any 
honest  nature  hear  of  them  without  a  throb  of  sym 
pathy.  Dwelling  on  the  painful  narrative  of  unequal 
contest  between  tyrannical  power  and  the  crushed  cap 
tive,  we  resolutely  enter  the  lists  on  the  side  of  freedom ; 
and  beholding  the  contest  waged  by  a  few  individuals, 
or,  perhaps,  by  one  alone,  our  sympathy  is  given  to  his 
weakness  as  well  as  to  his  cause.  To  him  we  send  the 
unfaltering  succor  of  good  wishes.  For  him  we  invoke 
vigor  of  arm  to  defend  and  fleetness  of  foot  to  escape. 
Human  enactments  are  vain  to  restrain  the  warm  tides 
of  the  heart.  We  pause  with  rapture  on  those  historic 
scenes  where  freedom  has  been  attempted  or  preserved 
through  the  magnanimous  self-sacrifice  of  friendship  or 
Christian  aid.  With  palpitating  bosom  we  follow  Mary 
of  Scotland  in  her  midnight  flight  from  the  custody 
of  her  stern  jailers  ;  we  accompany  Grotius  in  his  es 
cape  from  prison,  so  adroitly  promoted  by  his  wife ; 
we  join  Lavalette  in  his  flight,  aided  also  by  his  wife ; 
and  we  offer  our  admiration  and  gratitude  to  Huger 
and  Bollmann,  who,  unawed  by  the  arbitrary  ordinances 

l  Roncne,  Life  of  Cerntnto*,  pp.  81,  83.  308,  809.  See  also  Haedo,  Hi*- 
toria  de  Argel.  p.  186.  I  refer  to  Rnscoe  s«  the  popular  authority.  His 
work  is  little  more  than  a  compilation  from  Xavarrete  and  Sismondi. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        423 

of  Austria,  strove  heroically,  though  vainly,  to  rescue 
Lafayette  from  the  dungeons  of  Olniiitz.  The  laws  of 
Algiers,  which  sanctioned  a  cruel  slavery,  dooming  to 
condign  punishment  all  endeavors  for  freedom,  and  es 
pecially  all  countenance  of  such  endeavors,  can  no  longer 
prevent  our  sympathy  with  Cervantes,  not  less  gallant 
than  renowned,  who  strove  so  constantly  and  earnestly 
to  escape  his  chains,  —  nor  our  homage  to  those  Chris 
tians  also  who  did  not  fear  to  aid  him,  and  to  the  good 
ecclesiastic  who  suffered  in  his  cause.1 

The  efforts  to  escape  from  slavery  in  the  Barbary 
States,  so  far  as  they  can  be  traced,  are  full  of  interest. 
Each,  also,  has  its  lesson  for  us  at  the  present  hour.  The 
following  is  in  the  exact  words  of  an  early  writer. 
"  One  John  Fox,  an  expert  mariner,  and  a  good,  ap 
proved,  and  sufficient  gunner,  was  (in  the  raigne  of 
Queene  Elizabeth)  taken  by  the  Turkes,  and  kept  eigh- 
teene  yeeres  in  most  miserable  bondage  and  slavery; 
at  the  end  of  which  time  he  espied  his  opportunity 
(and  God  assisting  him  withall),  that  hee  slew  his  keeper, 
and  fled  to  the  sea's  side,  where  he  found  a  gaily  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  captive  Christians,  which  hee 
speedily  waying  their  anchor,  set  saile,  and  fell  to  worke 
like  men,  and  safely  arrived  in  Spaone,  by  which 
meanes  he  freed  himselfe  and  a  number  of  poore  soules 
from  long  and  intolerable  servitude;  after  which  the 
said  John  Fox  came  into  England,  and  the  Queene  (being 
rightly  informed  of  his  brave  exploit)  did  graciovdy  en- 
tcrtaine  him  for  her  servant,  and  allowed  him  a  yecrely 
pension"  2 

i  At  the  time  this  Lecture  was  delivered,  the  Rev.  Charles.  T.  Torrey 
was  a  prisoner  in  the  Penitentiary  of  Maryland,  paying  the  penalty  fo 
to  escaping  slaves. 

«  Purchas's  Pilgrims,  Vol.  II.  p.  888. 


424       WHITE   SLAVERY  IS   THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

There  is  also  in  the  same  early  source  a  quaint  de 
scription  of  what  occurred  to  a  ship  from  Bristol,  cap 
tured  by  an  Algerine  corsair  in  1621.  The  Englishmen 
were  all  taken  out  except  four  youths,  over  whom  the 
Turks,  as  these  barbarians  are  often  called  by  early  writ 
ers,  put  thirteen  of  their  own  men,  to  conduct  the  ship 
as  prize  to  Algiers ;  and  one  of  the  pirates,  "  a  strong, 
able,  sterne,  and  resolute  fellow,"  was  appointed  captain. 
"  These  foure  poore  youths,"  so  the  story  proceeds, 
"  being  thus  fallen  into  the  hands  of  mercilesse  infidels, 
began  to  studie  and  coinplot  all  the  meanes  they  could 
for  the  obtayning  of  their  freedomes.  First,  they  con 
sidered  the  lamentable  and  miserable  estates  that  they 
were  like  to  be  in,  —  as,  to  be  debard  for  ever  from  see- 
ing  their  friends  and  countrey,  to  be  chained,  beaten, 
made  slaves,  and  to  eate  the  bread  of  affliction  in  the 
gallies,  all  the  remainder  of  their  unfortunate  lives,  to 
have  their  heads  shaven,  to  feed  on  course  dyet,  to  have 
hard  boords  for  beds,  and,  which  was  worst  of  all,  never 
to  be  partakers  of  the  heavenly  word  and  sacraments. 
Thus  l>eing  quite  hopelesse,  haplesse,  and,  for  any  thing 
they  knew,  for  ever  helplesse,  they  sayled  five  dayes 
and  nights  under  the  command  of  the  pirats,  when, 
on  the  fifth  night,  God,  in  his  great  mercy,  shewed 
them  a  meanes  for  their  wished  for  escape."  A  sud 
den  wind  arose,  when,  the  captain  coming  to  help  take 
in  the  mainsail,  two  of  the  English  youths  "suddenly 
tooke  him  by  the  breech  and  threw  him  over-boord; 
but  by  fortune  hee  fell  into  the  bunt  of  the  sayle, 
where,  quickly  catching  hold  of  a  rope,  he  (being  a 
very  strong  man)  had  almost  gotten  into  the  ship 
againe,  which  John  Cooke  perceiving  leaped  speedily 
to  the  pumpe  and  tooke  off  the  pumpe  brake  or  handle 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BAEBARY  STATES.        425 

and  cast  it  to  William  Ling,  bidding  him  knocke  him 
downe,  which  he  was  not  long  in  doing,  but,  lifting  up 
the  woodden  weapon,  he  gave  him  such  a  palt  on  the  pate 
as  made  his  braines  forsake  the  possession  of  his  head, 
with  which  his  body  fell  into  the  sea."  The  corsair 
slave-dealers  were  overpowered.  The  four  English 
youths  drove  them  "  from  place  to  place  in  the  ship,  and 
having  coursed  them  from  the  poope  to  the  forecastle,  they 
there  valiantly  killed  two  of  them,  and  gave  another  a 
dangerous  wound  or  two,  who,  to  escape  the  further  fury 
of  their  swords,  leap'd  suddenly  over-boord  to  goe  seeke 
his  captaine."  The  other  nine  Turks  ran  betweeu-decks, 
where  they  were  securely  fastened.  The  English  now 
directed  their  course  to  St.  Lucas,  in  Spain,  and  "  in  short 
time  (by  Gods  ayde)  happily  and  safely  arrived  at  the 
said  port,  wlure  they  sold  tlie  nine,  Turkesfor  gally-dant* 
for  a  good  summe  of  money,  and,  as  I  thinke,  a  great 
deale  more  tlien  they  were  worth"  "  He  that  shall  attrib 
ute  such  things  as  these  to  the  arme  of  flesh  and  bloud," 
says  the  ancient  historian,  grateful  for  this  triumph  of 
freedom,  "is  forgetfull,  ingratefull,  and  in  a  manner 
atheistical!." 1 

From  the  same  authority  I  draw  another  narrative  of 
singular  success  the  following  year.  A  company  of  Eng 
lishmen,  being  captured  and  carried  into  Algiers,  were  sold 
as  slaves.  These  are  the  words  of  one  of  their  number : 
"  The  souldicrs  hurried  us  like  dogs  into  the  market,  whertM 
men  sell  hacknics  in  England  we  were  tossed  up  and  doicme 
to  see  who  would  give  most  for  its  ;  and  although  we  Juid 
heavy  hearts  and  looked  with  sad  countenances,  yet  many 
came  to  behold  us,  sometime*  taking  us  by  the  hand,  gome- 
time  turning  us  round  about, sometimes  feeling  our  braunut 

1  Purchas's  Pilgrims,  Vol.  II.  pp.  887,  888. 


426        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

and  naked  armes,  and  so  beholding  our  prices  written  in 
our  breasts,  they  bargained  for  us  accordingly,  and  at  last 
wt  were  all  sold"  Shortly  afterward  several  were  put  on 
board  an  Algerine  corsair.  One  of  them,  John  Rawlius, 
who  resembled  Cervantes  in  the  hardihood  of  his  exer 
tions  for  freedom,  —  as,  like  him,  he  had  lost  the  use  of 
a  hand,  —  arranged  an  uprising  on  board.  " '  Oh  hell-, 
ish  slaverie,' "  he  said,  " '  to  be  thus  subject  to  dogs ! 
Oh,  God  strengthen  my  heart  and  hand,  and  something 
shall  be  done  to  ease  us  of  these  mischiefes,  and  deliver 
us  from  these  cruell  Mahumetan  dogs.'  The  other  slaves, 
pittying  his  distraction  (as  they  thought),  bad  him  speake 
softly,  lest  they  should  all  fare  the  worse  for  his  distem- 
perature.  '  The  worse,'  (quoth  Rawlins,)  '  what  can  be 
worse  ?  I  will  either  attempt  my  deliverance  at  one  time 
or  another,  or  perish  in  the  enterprise.'"  Seizing  an 
auspicious  moment,  nine  English  slaves,  besides  John 
Kawlins,  with  other  English,  French,  and  Hollanders, 
"  in  all  foure  and  twenty  and  a  boy,"  succeeded,  after 
a  bloody  contest,  in  overpowering  five-and-forty  Turks. 
"  When  all  was  done,"  the  story  proceeds,  "  and  the  ship 
cleared  of  the  dead  bodies,  John  Rawlins  assembled  his 
men  together,  and  with  one  consent  gave  the  praise  unto 
God,  using  the  accustomed  service  on  ship-boord,  and,  for 
want  of  bookes,  lifted  up  their  voyces  to  God,  as  he  put 
into  their  hearts  or  renewed  their  memories ;  then  did 
they  sing  a  psalme,  and,  last  of  all,  embraced  one  another 
for  playing  the  men  in  such  a  deliverance,  whereby  our 
feare  was  turned  into  joy,  and  trembling  hearts  exhrlli- 
rated,  that  we  had  escaped  such  inevitable  dangers,  and 
especially  the  slavery  and  terror  of  bondage  worse  then 
death  it  selfe.  The  same  night  we  washed  our  ship,  put 
every  thing  in  as  good  order  as  we  could,  repaired  the 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BABBABY  STATES.        427 

broken  quarter,  set  up  the  biticle,  and  bore  up  the  helme 
for  England,  where  by  Gods  grace  and  good  guidin"  we 
arrived  at  Himmoth  the  thirteenth  of  February."  l 

In  1685,  Thomas  Phelps  and  Edmund  Baxter,  Eng 
lishmen,  accomplished  their  escape  from  captivity  at 
Mequinez.  The  latter  had  made  a  previous  unsuccess 
ful  attempt,  which  drew  upon  him  the  bastinado,  dis 
abling  him  from  work  for  a  twelvemonth ;  "  but,  not 
withstanding,  such  was  his  love  for  Christian  liberty," 
that  he  freely  declared  to  his  companion  "  that  he  would 
adventure  with  any  fair  opportunity."  Here  the  story  is 
like  one  of  our  own  day.  By  devious  paths,  journeying 
in  the  darkness  of  night,  and  by  day  sheltering  themselves 
in  bushes  or  in  the  branches  of  fig-trees,  they  at  length 
reached  the  sea.  With  imminent  risk  of  discovery,  they 
succeeded  in  finding  a  boat  not  far  from  Sallee.  This 
they  took  without  consulting  the  proprietor,  and  rowed 
to  a  distant  ship,  which,  to  their  great  joy,  proved  to  be 
an  English  man-of-war.  Making  known  the  exposed 
situation  of  the  Moorish  ships  at  Mamora,  they  formed 
part  of  a  night  expedition  in  boats  which  boarded  and 
burnt  them.  "One  Moor,"  says  the  account,  "  we  found 
aboard,  who  was  presently  cut  in  pieces ;  another  was 
shot  in  the  head,  endeavoring  to  escape  upon  the  cable. 
We  were  not  long  in  taking  in  our  shavings  and  tar-bar 
rels,  and  so  set  her  on  fire  in  several  places,  she  being 
very  apt  to  receive  what  we  designed  ;  for  there  were 
several  barrels  of  tar  upon  the  deck,  and  she  was  newly 
tarred,  as  if  on  purpose.  Whilst  we  were  setting  her  o 
fire,  we  heard  a  noise  of  some  people  in  the  hold ;  \ 
opened  the  skuttles,  and  thereby  saved  the  lives  of 
Christians,  three  Dutch-men  and  one  French,  who 

1  Purchases  Pilgrims,  Vol.  H.  pp.  889-896. 


428        WHITE  SLAVERY  IX  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

us  the  ship  on  fire  was  admiral,  and  belonged  to  Aly- 
Hackum,  and  the  other,  which  we  soon  after  served  with 
the  same  sauce,  had  the  name  oiPlummage  Cart  Lie,  which 
was  the  very  ship  which  in  October  last  took  me  cap 
tive."  The  Englishman,  once  a  captive,  who  tells  this 
story,  says  it  is  "  most  especially  to  move  pity  for  the 
afflictions  of  Joseph,  to  excite  compassionate  regard  to 
those  poor  country-men  now  languishing  in  misery  and 
irons,  to  endeavor  their  releasement."  1 

Even  the  non-resistance  of  Quakers,  animated  by  zeal 
for  freedom,  contrived  to  baffle  these  slave-dealers.  A 
ship  in  the  charge  of  these  Christians  became  the  prey  of 
Algerines ;  and  the  curious  story  is  told,  with  details  un 
necessary  here,  of  the  manner  in  which  the  vessel  was 
subsequently  recaptured  by  the  crew  without  loss  of  life. 
To  complete  this  triumph,  the  slave-pirates  were  safely 
landed  on  their  own  shores,  and  allowed  to  go  their  way 
in  peace,  acknowledging  with  astonishment  and  grati 
tude  this  new  application  of  the  Christian  injunction  to 
do  good  to  them  that  hate  you.  On  the  return,  Charles 
the  Second,  being  at  Greenwich,  and  learning  that  "  there 
was  a  Quaker  ketch  coming  up  the  river,  that  had  l>een 
taken  by  the  Turks,  and  redeemed  themselves  without 
fighting,"  came  to  it  in  his  bargepand  there  hearing 
"  how  they  had  let  the  Turks  go  free,"  said  to  the  mas 
ter,  with  the  spirit  of  a  slave-dealer,  "  You  have  done 
like  a  fool,  for  you  might  have  had  good  gain  for  them." 
And  to  the  mate  he  said,  "  You  should  have  brought  the 
Turks  to  me."  "  /  thought  it  better  for  them  to  be  in 
their  own  country"  was  the  Quaker's  reply. 2 

l  A  True  Acoonnt  of  the  Cnptivity  of  Thomnn  Phelp*  at  Mnohine*s  in 
Barbarv,  and  of  hi*  otrangn  fccape,  in  Company  of  Edmund  Baxter  and 
other* :  Oaborne'n  Voyage*,  Vol.  II.  pp.  499-510. 

3  Sewel,  History  of  the  Quakers,  pp.  3W  -  897. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        429 

These  are  English  stories.  But  there  is  testimony  also 
from  France.  A  Catholic  father  furnishes  a  chapter  en 
titled,  "  Of  some  Slaves  that  made  their  Escape  "  ;  and 
he  begins  by  narrating  the  difficulties :  how  the  slaves, 
before  they  start,  secure  the  assistance  of  certain  Moors, 
called  Metadores,  "  who  promise  to  conduct  them  among 
Christians  for  a  sum  agreed  on  "  ;  how  they  journey  all 
night,  sheltering  themselves  during  the  day  in  woods, 
caves,  or  other  retired  places,  always  in  dread,  and 
anxiously  awaiting  the  return  of  darkness  to  cover 
their  movements  ;  how  the  flight  is  long  and  weari 
some,  environed  by  perpetual  hardship  and  peril ;  how, 
if  alone,  there  is  danger  of  death  on  the  mountains, 
through  hunger  and  thirst,  or  from  lions  and  tigers ; 
and  how,  if  retaken,  there  is  the  fearful  prospect  of 
being  burned  or  cruelly  bastinadoed,  with  a  constant 
weight  of  irons  while  at  their  daily  toil.  "  But  their 
torments  and  dangers,"  says  the  father,  "  are  less  dread 
ful  than  the  thoughts  of  living  all  their  days  in  that 
miserable  slavery."  l 

Then  comes  the  narrative  of  two  Frenchmen  who 
with  incredible  effort  journeyed  one  hundred  and  fifty 
leagues,  being  on  the  road  eighteen  nights  "without 
eating  anything  considerable,"  and  were  at  last  so  near 
their  liberty  as  to  see  a  town  belonging  to  the  king  of 
Portugal,  making  them  forget  their  fatigues,  when  they 
were  unhappily  retaken,  hurried  back  to  their  master, 
loaded  with  irons,  and  condemned  to  double  labor. 
As  they  were  studying  a  second  escape,  they  were  re 
lieved  by  death,  that  constant  friend  of  the  slave.  Tins 
narrative  is  followed  by  that  of  two  other  Frenchmen, 
who  commenced  their  escape  on  the  2d  of  October,  1693, 

1  Busnot,  History  of  the  Reign  of  Muley  htnael,  Chap.  VII.  p.  171. 


430        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

"  having  no  other  guide  than  the  North  Star  to  direct 
their  course."  And  here  ensues  that  succession  of  trials 
which  is  the  lot  of  the  fugitive  slave,  all  of  which  is 
told  at  length.  There  was  peril  in  leaving  the  city  and 
passing  the  outer  guards  ;  but  when  this  was  done,  then 
came  the  desert,  with  its  rocks  and  precipices,  where 
they  met  "some  tigers  and  many  lions,"  making  it 
hideous  with  their  roaring  ;  but  worse  than  tiger  or  lion 
was  the  fiery  thirst  that  pursued  them ;  and  worse  than 
all  was  man,  for  it  was  from  him  that  they  feared  most. 
They,  too,  found  themselves  in  sight  of  the  liberty  they 
had  sought  with  such  pain,  when,  like  their  predecessors, 
they  were  retaken  and  hurried  back.  Asked  why  they 
had  fled,  they  answered,  "  For  the  sake  of  liberty,  and 
we  are  guilty  of  no  other  crime."  Burdened  with 
heavy  chains,  they  were  again  put  to  work,  with  the 
threat  of  being  burned  alive,  if  they  attempted  the  like 
again.  But  notwithstanding  all  this  terrible  experience 
and  the  menace  of  death  by  the  flames,  they  made  an 
other  attempt,  "  preferring,"  says  the  Catholic  father, "  all 
perils  and  hardships  before  the  insupportable  burden  of 
their  captivity."  Again  they  failed,  and  were  carried 
back  to  fearful  torment,  when  at  last  they  were  ransomed 
by  the  mission  in  the  name  of  the  French  monarch.1 

In  the  current  of  time  other  instances  occurred.  A 
letter  from  Algiers,  dated  August  6,  1772,  and  pre 
served  in  the  British  Annual  Register,  furnishes  the 
following  story.  "A  most  remarkable  escape,"  it  says, 
"of  some  Christian  prisoners  has  lately  been  effected 
here,  which  will  undoubtedly  cause  those  that  have  not 
had  that  good  fortune  to  be  treated  with  the  utmost 
rigor.  On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  July,  the  Dey 

»  Bosnot,  History  of  the  Reign  of  Muley  Innael,  p  184. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        431 

was  informed  that  all  the  Christian  slaves  had  escaped 
over-night  in  a  galley.  This  news  soon  raised  him,  and, 
upon  inquiry,  it  was  found  to  have  been  a  preconcerted 
plan.  About  ten  at  night,  seventy-four  slaves,  who  had 
found  means  to  escape  from  their  masters,  met  in  a  large 
square  near  the  gate  which  opens  to  the  harbor,  and, 
being  well  armed,  they  soon  forced  the  guard  to  submit, 
and,  to  prevent  their  raising  the  city,  confined  them  all 
in  the  powder-magazine.  They  then  proceeded  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  harbor,  where  they  embarked  on  board 
a  large  rowing  polacre,  that  was  left  there  for  the  pur 
pose,  and,  the  tide  ebbing  out,  they  fell  gently  down 
with  it,  and  passed  both  the  forts.  As  soon  as  this  was 
known,  three  large  galleys  were  ordered  out  after  them, 
but  to  no  purpose.  They  returned  in  three  days,  with 
the  news  of  seeing  the  polacre  sail  into  Barcelona, 
where  the  galleys  durst  not  go  to  attack  her." 1 

The  same  historic  authority  records  another  triumph 
of  freedom.  "Forty-six  captives,"  it  says,  at  the  date 
of  September  3,  1776,  "who  were  employed  to  draw 
stones  from  a  quarry  some  leagues'  distance  from  Al 
giers,  at  a  place  named  Geneva,  resolved,  if  possible, 
to  recover  their  liberty,  and  yesterday  took  advantage 
of  the  idleness  and  inattention  of  forty  men  who  were 
to  guard  them,  and  who  had  laid  down  their  arms, 
and  were  rambling  about  the  shore.  The  captives  at 
tacked  them  with  pick-axes  and  other  tools,  and  made 
themselves  masters  of  their  arms;  and  having  killed 
thirty-three  of  the  forty,  and  eleven  of  the  thirteen 
sailors  who  were  in  the  boat  which  carried  the  stones, 
they  obliged  the  rest  to  jump  into  the  sea.  Being  then 
masters  of  the  boat,  and  armed  with  twelve  muskets, 

1  Annual  Register,  Vol.  XV.  p.  180]. 


432        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

two  pistols,  and  powder,  &c.,  they  set  sail,  and  had  the 
good  fortune  to  arrive  here  [at  Palma,  the  capital  of  Ma 
jorca]  this  morning,  where  they  are  performing  quaran 
tine.  Sixteen  of  them  are  Spaniards,  seventeen  French, 
eight  Portuguese,  three  Italians,  one  a  German,  and  one 
a  Sardinian." 1  Here,  as  in  other  cases,  I  copy  the  pre 
cise  language  of  the  authority,  without  adding  a  word. 
These  simple  stories  show  how  captives  have  escaped 
and  the  world  has  sympathized. 

AMERICAN  VICTDIS. 

THUS  far  I  have  followed  the  efforts  of  European  na 
tions,  and  the  struggles  of  European  victims  of  White 
Slavery.  I  pass  now  to  America,  and  to  our  own  coun 
try.  In  the  name  of  fellow-countryman  there  is  a 
charm  of  peculiar  power.  The  story  of  his  sorrows  will 
come  nearer  to  our  hearts,  and,  ]>erhaps,  to  the  experi 
ence  of  individuals  or  families  among  us,  than  the  story 
of  distant  Spaniards,  Frenchmen,  or  Englishmen.  Nor 
are  materials  wanting. 

In  earliest  days,  while  the  Colonies  yet  contended  with 
savage  Indians,  families  were  compelled  to  mourn  the 
hapless  fate  of  brothers,  fathers,  and  husbands  doomed 
to  slavery  in  distant  African  Barbary.  Five  years  after 
the  landing  at  Plymouth,  a  returning  ship,  already  "shot 
deep  into  the  English  Channel,"  was  "  taken  by  a  Turks 
man-of-war  and  carried  into  Sallee,  where  the  master  and 
men  were  made  slaves,"  while  a  consort  ship  with  Miles 
Standish  aboard  narrowly  escaped  this  fate.2  In  1640, 
"one  Austin,  a  man  of  good  estate,"  returning  discon- 

1  Annual  Remoter,  Vol.  XIX.  p.  170]. 
*  Morton,  New  England'*  Memorial,  p.  62. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY   STATES.        433 

tented  to  England  from  Quinipiack,  now  New  Haven,  on 
his  way  "  was  taken  by  the  Turks,  and  Austin  and  his 
wife  and  family  were  carried  to  Algiers,  and  sold  there 
for  slaves."  1  Under  date  of  1671,  in  the  diary  of  Rev. 
John  Eliot,  first  minister  of  Roxbury  and  devoted  apostle 
to  the  Indians,  prefixed  to  the  records  of  the  church  in 
that  town,  and  still  preserved  in  manuscript,  these  few 
words  tell  a  story  of  sorrow :  "  We  heard  the  sad  and 
heavy  tidings  concerning  the  captivity  of  Captain  Foster 
and  his  son  at  Sallee."  From  further  entries  it  appears 
that  they  were  redeemed  after  a  bondage  of  three  years. 
The  same  record  shows  other  victims  for  whom  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  church  and  neighborhood  were  enlisted. 
Here  is  one  :  "  20  10  1674.  This  Sabbath  we  had  a 
public  collection  for  Edward  Howard,  of  Boston,  to  re 
deem  him  out  of  his  sad  Turkish  captivity,  in  which 
collection  was  gathered  121.  18s.  9d.  which  by  God's 
favor  made  up  the  just  sum  desired."  Not  long  after, 
at  a  date  left  uncertain,  it  appears  that  "NVilliam  Bowen 
"  was  taken  by  the  Turks  "  ;  a  contribution  was  made  for 
his  redemption, "  and  the  people  went  to  the  public  box, 
young  and  old,  but,  before  the  money  could  answer  the 
end  for  which  the  congregation  intended  it,"  tidings  came 
of  the  death  of  the  unhappy  captive,  and  the  contribu 
tion  was  afterwards  "  improved  to  build  a  tomb  for  the 
town  to  inter  their  ministers."2  Money  collected  for 
emancipation  built  the  tomb  of  the  Roxbury  ministers. 
Instances  now  thicken.  A  ship,  sailing  from  Charles- 
town,  in  1678,  was  taken  by  a  corsair,  and  carried  into 
Algiers,  whence  its  passengers  and  crew  never  returned. 
They  probably  died  in  slavery.  Among  these  was  Iten- 

1  Winthrop's  Journal,  Vol.  IT.  p.  12. 
a  Records  of  First  Church  in  Roxbury,  MS. 
VOL.  I.  19  BB 


434        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE   BABBARY  STATES. 

iel  Mason,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University,  and  the 
earliest  of  that  name  on  the  Catalogue ;  also,  James  Ell- 
son,  the  mate.  The  latter,  in  a  testamentary  letter  to 
his  wife,  dated  at  Algiers,  June  30,  1679,  desires  her  to 
redeem  out  of  captivity  two  of  his  companions.1  At  the 
same  period,  William  Harris,  a  person  of  consequence  in 
the  Colony,  an  associate  of  Roger  Williams  in  the  first 
planting  of  Providence,  and  now  in  the  sixty-eighth 
year  of  his  age,  sailing  from  Boston  for  England  on  pub 
lic  business,  was  also  taken  by  a  corsair  and  carried  into 
Algiers.  On  the  23d  February,  1679,  this  veteran,  — 
older  than  the  slaveholder  Cato,  when  he  learned  Greek, 
—  together  with  all  the  crew,  was  sold  into  slavery. 
The  fate  of  his  companions  is  unknown ;  but  Mr.  Har 
ris,  after  bearing  his  doom  more  than  a  year,  was  re 
deemed  at  the  cost  of  twelve  hundred  dollars,  called  by 
him  "  the  price  of  a  good  farm."  The  feelings  of  the 
Colony,  touched  by  these  disasters,  are  concisely  ex 
pressed  in  a  private  letter  dated  at  Boston,  November 
10,  1680,  where  it  is  said  :  "  The  Turks  have  so  taken  our 
New  England  ships,  richly  loaden,  homeward  bound,  that 
it  is  very  dangerous  to  goe.  Many  of  our  neighbors  are 
now  in  captivity  in  Argeer.  The  Lord  find  out  some 
way  for  their  redemption  ! "  2  This  prayer  may  be  re 
peated  still. 

In  1693  the  subject  found  its  way  before  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  Massachusetts,  on  a  petition  from  the  re 
lations  of  two  inhabitants  "  some  time  since  taken  by  a 
Sal  Ice  man-of-war,  and  now  under  Turkish  captivity  and 
slavery,"  for  permission  "  to  ask  and  receive  the  charity 
and  public  contribution  of  well-disposed  persons  for  re- 

»  Middlesex  Probate  File*,  MS. 

*  William  Gilbert  to  Arthur  Bridge,  MS. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        435 

deeming  them  out  of  their  miserable  suffering  and  slav 
ery."  The  petition  was  granted  on  the  condition,  "  The 
money  so  collected  to  be  employed  for  the  end  aforesaid, 
unless  the  said  persons  happen  to  die  before,  make  their 
escape,  or  be  in  any  other  way  redeemed ;  then  the  money 
so  gathered  to  be  improved  for  the  redemption  of  some 
others  of  this  Province,  that  are  or  may  be  in  like  cir 
cumstances,  as  the  Governor  and  Council  shall  direct." 1 
Thus  was  the  government  of  Massachusetts  moved  at 
that  early  day  to  emancipation. 

Entering  the  next  century,  we  meet  a  curious  notice 
of  a  captive  Boston  ian.  Under  date  of  Tuesday,  Janu 
ary  11, 1714,  Chief-Justice  Samuel  Sewall,  after  describ 
ing  in  his  journal  a  dinner  with  Mr.  Gee,  and  mention 
ing  the  guests,  among  whom  were  Increase  and  Cotton 
Mather,  adds  :  "  It  seems  it  was  in  remembrance  of  his 
landing  this  day  at  Boston,  after  his  Algerine  captivity. 
Had  a  good  treat.  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  in  returning 
thanks,  very  well  comprised  many  weighty  things  very 
pertinently."2  Among  the  many  weighty  things  very 
pertinently  comprised  by  this  eminent  divine,  it  is 
hoped,  was  condemnation  of  slavery.  Surely,  he  could 
not  then  have  shrunk  from  giving  utterance  to  that 
faith  which  preaches  deliverance  to  the  captive. 

Leaving  the  imperfect  records  of  colonial  days,  I  de 
scend  at  once  to  that  period,  almost  in  the  light  of  our 
own  times,  when  our  National  Government,  justly  care 
ful  of  the  liberty  of  its  white  citizens,  was  aroused  to  put 
forth  all  its  power.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  closed 
with  the  acknowledgment  of  independence.  The  na- 

1  Council  Records,  fol.  823.     See  Jackson  «.  Phillips,  14  Allen's  B*p. 
659. 

2  Journal  of  Chief-Justice  Samuel  Sewall,  MS. 


436        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

tional  flag,  then  freshly  unfurled,  and  hardly  known  to 
the  world,  had  little  power  to  protect  persons  or  property 
against  outrages  from  the  Barbary  States.  Within  three 
years  no  less  than  ten  American  vessels  became  their 
prey.  At  one  time  an  apprehension  prevailed  that  Dr. 
Franklin  was  captured.  "We  are  waiting,"  said  one 
of  his  French  correspondents,  "  with  the  greatest  impa 
tience  to  hear  from  you.  The  newspapers  have  given  us 
anxiety  on  your  account,  for  some  of  them  insist  that 
you  have  been  taken  by  the  Algerines,  while  others  pre 
tend  that  you  are  at  Morocco,  enduring  your  slavery  with 
all  the  patience  of  a  philosopher."  1  The  property  of 
our  merchants  was  sacrificed.  Insurance  at  Lloyd's  in 
London  could  be  had  only  at  advanced  rates,  while  it 
was  difficult  to  obtain  freight  for  American  bottoms.2 
The  Mediterranean  trade  was  closed  against  our  enter 
prise.  To  a  people  filled  with  the  spirit  of  commerce, 
and  bursting  with  new  life,  this  in  itself  was  disheart 
ening;  but  the  sufferings  of  unhappy  fellow-citizens, 
captives  in  a  distant  land,  awoke  a  feeling  of  a  higher 
strain. 

As  from  time  to  time  these  tidings  reached  America, 
a  voice  of  horror  and  indignation  swelled  through  the 
land.  The  slave-corsairs  of  African  Barbary  were 
branded  sometimes  as  "infernal  crews,"  sometimes  as 
"  human  harpies."  8  This  sentiment  acquired  new  force, 
when,  at  two  different  periods,  by  the  fortunate  escape 
of  captives,  what  seemed  to  be  an  authentic  picture  of 
their  condition  was  presented  to  the  world.  The  story 

1  M.  Le  Veffiard  to  Dr.  Franklin,  October  9,  1785:  Sparks's  Franklin, 
Vol.  X.  p.  230. 

»  Booton  Independent  Chronicle,  April  28,  May  12,  October  20,  Novem 
ber  8,  November  17,  1786;  March  2,  April  27,  1786. 

•  Ibid.,  May  18, 1786.    Sparks'*  Franklin,  Vol.  IX.  p.  607. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BAEBARY  STATES.        437 

of  these  fugitives  shows  the  hardships  of  their  lot,  and 
was  at  the  bottom  of  the  appeal  soon  made  to  the  coun 
try  with  such  effect. 

The  earliest  of  these  escapes  was  in  1788,  by  a  per 
son  originally  captured  in  a  vessel  from  Boston.  It  ap 
pears,  that,  on  being  carried  into  Algiers,  he,  with  the 
rest  of  the  ship's  company,  was  exposed  at  public  auc 
tion,  whence  he  was  sent  to  the  country-house  of  his 
purchaser.  Here  for  eighteen  months  he  was  chained  to 
the  wheelbarrow,  and  allowed  only  one  pound  of  bread 
a  day,  during  all  which  wretched  period  he  had  no  op 
portunity  of  learning  the  fate  of  his  companions.  From 
the  country  he  was  removed  to  Algiers,  where,  in  a  nu 
merous  company  of  white  slaves,  he  encountered  three 
shipmates  and  twenty-six  other  Americans.  After  re 
maining  for  some  time  crowded  together  in  the  slave-pris 
on,  they  were  all  distributed  among  the  different  galleys 
of  the  Dey.  Our  fugitive  and  eighteen  other  white  slaves 
were  put  on  board  a  xebec,  carrying  eight  six-pounders 
and  sixty  men,  which,  while  cruising  on  the  coast  of 
Malta,  encountered  an  armed  vessel  of  Genoa,  and,  af 
ter  much  bloodshed,  was  taken,  sword  in  hand.  Eleven 
of  the  unfortunate  slaves,  compelled  to  this  unwelcome 
service  in  the  cause  of  a  tyrannical  master,  were  killed 
before  the  triumph  of  the  Genoese  could  deliver  them 
from  chains.  Our  countryman  and  the  few  remaining 
alive  were  at  once  set  at  liberty,  and,  it  is  said,  "  treated 
with  that  humanity  which  distinguishes  the  Christian 
from  the  barbarian."  l  Such  is  the  testimony. 

This  escape  was  followed  the  next  year  by  others, 
achieved  under  circumstances  widely  different.  A 


1  Boston   Independent   Chronicle,   Oct   16,   1788.    History  of  th«  War 
between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  pp.  69,  60. 


438        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

from  Philadelphia  was  captured  near  the  Western  Islands 
and  taken  into  Algiers.  The  crew  of  twenty-two  were 
doomed  to  bondage.  The  larger  part  were  sent  into  the 
country  and  chained  to  work  with  mules.  Others  were 
put  on  board  a  galley  and  chained  to  the  oars.  The  lat 
ter,  tempted  by  facilities  of  position  near  the  sea,  made 
attempts  to  escape,  which,  for  a  time,  proved  fruitless. 
At  last,  love  of  freedom  triumphing  over  suggestions  of 
humanity,  they  rose  upon  their  overseers,  killing  some 
and  confining  others,  then,  seizing  a  small  galley  of 
their  masters,  set  sail  for  Gibraltar,  where  in  a  few  hours 
they  landed  as  freemen.1  Thus,  by  killing  their  keep 
ers  and  carrying  off  property  not  their  own,  did  these 
fugitive  white  slaves  achieve  their  liberty. 

AMERICAN  EFFORTS  AGAINST  WHITE   SLAVERY. 

SUCH  stories  could  not  be  recounted  in  vain.  Glimps 
es  opened  into  the  dread  regions  of  Slavery  gave  a 
harrowing  reality  to  all  that  conjecture  or  imagination 
pictured.  It  was,  indeed,  true,  that  our  own  white 
brethren,  heirs  to  freedom  newly  purchased  by  precious 
blood,  partakers  in  the  sovereignty  of  citizenship,  be 
longing  to  the  fellowship  of  the  Christian  Church,  were 
degraded  to  do  the  will  of  an  arbitrary  taskmaster,  sold 
as  boMto  of  the  field,  galled  by  manacle  and  driven  by 
lash  !  It  was  true  that  they  were  held  at  market  prices, 
and  that  their  only  chance  of  freedom  was  in  the  earnest, 
energetic,  united  efforts  of  their  countrymen.  It  is  not 
easy  to  comprehend  the  exact  condition  to  which  they 
were  reduced.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  dif- 

1  Hirtorr  of  the  War  between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  pp.  62.  63. 
American  'Moceura,  17»0,  Part  II.  VoL  VIII.  Appendix  IV.  pp.  4,  6. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        439 

fered  materially  from  that  of  other  captives  in  Algiers. 
Masters  of  vessels  were  lodged  together,  and  indulged 
with  a  table  by  themselves,  though  a  small  iron  ring 
was  attached  to  one  of  their  legs,  to  denote  that  they 
were  slaves.  Seamen  were  taught  and  obliged  to  work 
at  the  trade  of  carpenter,  blacksmith,  or  stone-mason, 
from  six  in  the  morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon,  with 
out  intermission,  except  for  half  an  hour  at  dinner.1 
Doubtless  there  is  exaggeration  in  the  accounts  trans 
mitted  to  us.  It  is,  however,  sufficient  to  know  that 
they  were  slaves  ;  nor  is  there  any  other  human  condi 
tion  which,  when  barely  mentioned,  even  without  one 
word  of  description,  so  strongly  awakens  the  sympathies 
of  every  just  and  enlightened  lover  of  his  race. 

To  secure  their  freedom,  informal  agencies  were 
promptly  established  under  the  direction  of  our  min 
ister  at  Paris  ;  and  the  Society  of  Redemption  —  whose 
beneficent  exertions,  commencing  so  early  in  modern 
history,  were  still  continued  —  offered  their  aid.  Our 
agents  were  blandly  entertained  by  that  great  slave- 
dealer,  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  who  informed  them  that  he 
was  familiar  with  the  exploits  of  Washington,  and,  never 
expecting  to  see  him,  expressed  a  hope,  that,  through 
Congress,  he  might  receive  a  full-length  portrait  of  this 
hero  of  freedom,  to  be  displayed  in  his  palace  at  Al 
giers.  The  Dey  clung  to  his  American  slaves,  holding 
them  at  prices  considered  exorbitant,  being,  in  1786, 
$  6,000  for  the  master  of  a  vessel,  $4,000  for  a  mate, 
$4,000  for  a  passenger,  and  $1,400  for  a  seaman  ;  while 
the  agents  were  authorized  to  offer  only  $  200  for  each 
In  1790  the  tariff  seems  to  have  fallen.  Meanwhile 

1  History  of  the  War  between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  p.  61. 
a  Lyman's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  IL  pp.  868,  864. 


440        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

one  obtained  his  freedom  through  private  means,  others 
escaped,  and  others  still  were  liberated  by  the  great  lib 
erator,  Death.  The  following  list,  if  not  interesting  from 
the  names  of  the  captives,  will  at  least  be  curious  as 
evidence  of  prices  at  that  time  in  the  slave-market. 

Crew  of  the  Ship  Dolphin,   of  Philadelphia,  captured 
July  30,  1785. 

Srqulns. 

Richard  O'Brien,  master,  price  demanded          •        .  2,000 

Andrew  Montgomery,  mate         .,        .        .         .  1,500 

Jacob  Tessanier,  French  passenger           .        .        .  2,000 

William  Patterson,  seaman  (keeps  a  tavern)           .  1,500 

Philip  Sloan,                 "          ......  725 

Peleg  Loring,                 " 725 

John  Robertson,            "          .....  725 

James  Hall,                   " 725 

Crew  of  the  Schooner  Maria,  of  Boston,  captured 
July  25,  1785. 

Isaac  Stevens,  master  (of  Concord,  Mass.)         .         .  2,000 
Alexander  Forsythe,  mate  ....       1,500 

James  Cathcart,  seaman  (keeps  a  tavern)         .         .       900 
George  Smith,          "        (in  the  Dey's  house)     .          725 
John  Gregory,  "    .         .        .        .        .        .       725 

James  Hermit,          "         .  .  7i'"> 


16,475 

Duty  on  the  above  sum,  ten  per  cent         .        .         1,647J 
Sundry  gratifications  to  officers  of  the  Dey's 

household 240£ 


Sequins  18,362$ 
This  sum  being  equal  to  $  34,792.* 

l  History  of  the  War  between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  pp.  64,  66. 
Lyman'g  Diplomacy,  Vol.  IL  pp.  867,  858. 


WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BAEBARY  STATES.   441 

In  1793  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifteen  of 
our  fellow-citizens  were  groaning  in  Algerine  slavery. 
Their  condition  excited  the  fraternal  feeling  of  the 
whole  people,  while  it  occupied  the  anxious  attention 
of  Congress  and  the  prayers  of  the  clergy.  A  petition 
from  these  unhappy  persons,  dated  at  Algiers,  December 
29,  1793,  was  addressed  to  Congress.  "  Your  petition 
ers,"  it  says,  "  are  at  present  captives  in  this  city  of 
bondage,  employed  daily  in  the  most  laborious  work, 
without  any  respect  to  persons.  They  pray  that  you 
will  take  their  unfortunate  situation  into  consideration, 
and  adopt  such  measures  as  will  restore  the  American 
captives  to  their  country,  their  friends,  families,  and 
connections  ;  and  your  most  humble  petitioners  will 
ever  pray  and  be  thankful." l  The  action  of  Congress 
wras  sluggish,  compared  with  the  patriot  desires  throb 
bing  through  the  country. 

Appeals  of  a  different  character  were  now  addressed 
to  the  country  at  large,  and  these  were  efficiently  aided 
by  Colonel  Humphreys,  the  friend  and  companion  of 
Washington,  who  was  at  the  time  our  minister  in  Portu 
gal.  Taking  advantage  of  the  common  passion  for  lot 
teries,  and  particularly  of  the  custom,  not  then  con 
demned,  of  employing  them  to  obtain  money  for  literary 
or  benevolent  purposes,  he  proposed  a  grand  lottery, 
sanctioned  by  the  United  States,  or  particular  lotteries 
sanctioned  by  individual  States,  to  obtain  the  freedom 
of  our  countrymen.  He  then  asks,  "  Is  there  within 
the  limits  of  these  United  States  an  individual  who  will 
not  cheerfully  contribute,  in  proportion  to  his  means,  to 
carry  it  into  effect  ?  By  the  peculiar  blessings  of  free 
dom  which  you  enjoy,  by  the  disinterested  sacrifice  you 

1  Lymnn's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  pp.  859,  360. 
"  19  » 


442        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

made  for  its  attainment,  by  the  patriotic  blood  of  those 
martyrs  of  liberty  who  died  to  secure  your  indepen 
dence,  and  by  all  the  tender  ties  of  nature,  let  me  con 
jure  you  once  more  to  snatch  your  unfortunate  country 
men  from  fetters,  dungeons,  and  death." 

This  appeal  was  followed  by  a  petition  from  American 
captives  in  Algiers,  addressed  to  ministers  of  every 
denomination  throughout  the  United  States,  praying 
help.  Beginning  with  an  allusion  to  the  day  of  national 
thanksgiving  appointed  by  President  "Washington,  it 
asks  the  clergy  to  set  apart  the  Sunday  preceding  that 
day  for  sermons,  to  be  delivered  simultaneously  through 
out  the  country,  pleading  for  their  brethren  in  bonds. 

"  Reverend  and  Respected,  — 

"  On  Thursday,  the  19th  of  February,  1795,  you  are  en 
joined  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America  to 
appear  in  the  various  temples  of  that  God  who  heareth  the 
groaning  of  the  prisoner,  and  in  mercy  remembereth  those 
who  are  appointed  to  die. 

"  Nor  are  ye  to  assemble  alone ;  for  on  this,  the  high  day 
of  continental  thanksgiving,  all  the  religious  societies  and 
denominations  throughout  the  Union,  and  all  persons  whom 
soever  within  the  limits  of  the  confederated  States,  are  to 
enter  the  courts  of  Jehovah,  with  their  several  pastors,  and 
gratefully  to  render  unfeigned  thanks  to  the  Ruler  of  Nations 
for  the  manifold  and  signal  mercies  which  distinguish  your 
lot  as  a  people :  in  a  more  particular  manner,  commemorat 
ing  your  exemption  from  foreign  war  ;  being  greatly  thank 
ful  for  the  preservation  of  peace  at  home  and  abroad  ;  and 
fervently  toseeching  the  kind  Author  of  all  these  blessings 
graciously  to  prolong  them  to  you,  and  finally  to  render  the 
United  States  of  America  more  and  more  an  asylum  for  the 
unfortunate  of  every  clime  under  heaven. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IX  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        443 

"  Reverend  and  Respected,  — 

"  Most  fervent  are  our  daily  prayers,  breathed  in  the  sin 
cerity  of  woes  unspeakable,  most  ardent  are  the  embittered 
aspirations  of  our  afflicted  spirits,  that  thus  it  may  be  in  deed 
and  in  truth.  Although  we  are  prisoners  in  a  foreign  land, 
although  we  are  far,  very  far,  from  our  native  homes,  although 
our  harps  are  hung  upon  the  weeping-willows  of  Slavery, 
nevertheless  America  is  still  preferred  above  our  chiefest  joy, 
and  the  last  wish  of  our  departing  souls  shall  be  her  peace, 
her  prosperity,  her  liberty  forever.  On  this  day,  the  day  of 
festivity  and  gladness,  remember  us,  your  unfortunate  breth 
ren,  late  members  of  the  family  of  freedom,  now  doomed  to 
perpetual  confinement.  Pray,  earnestly  pray,  that  our  griev 
ous  calamities  may  have  a  gracious  end.  Supplicate  the  Father 
of  Mercies  for  the  most  wretched  of  his  offspring.  Beseech 
the  God  of  all  Consolation  to  comfort  us  by  the  hope  of  final 
restoration.  Implore  the  Jesus  whom  you  worship  to  open  the 
house  of  the  prison.  Entreat  the  Christ  whom  you  adore  to 
let  the  miserable  captives  go  free. 

11  Reverend  and  Respected,  — 

"  It  is  not  your  prayers  alone,  although  of  much  avail, 
which  we  beg  on  the  bending  knee  of  sufferance,  galled  by 
the  corroding  fetters  of  slavery.  We  conjure  you  by  the 
bowels  of  the  mercies  of  the  Almighty,  we  ask  you  in  the 
name  of  your  Father  in  Heaven,  to  have  compassion  on  our 
miseries,  to  wipe  away  the  crystallized  tears  of  despondence, 
to  hush  the  heartfelt  sigh  of  distress,  and,  by  every  possible 
exertion  of  godlike  cJuirity,  to  restore  us  to  our  wives,  to  our 
children,  to  our  friends,  to  our  God  and  to  yours. 

11  Is  it  possible  that  a  stimulus  can  be  wanting  ?  Forbid 
it,  the  example  of  a  dying,  bleeding,  crucified  Saviour! 
Forbid  it,  the  precepts  of  a  risen,  ascended,  glorified  Im- 
manuel !  Do  unto  us  in  fetters,  in  bonds,  in  dungeon*,  »» 
danger  of  the  pestilence,  at  ye  yourselves  would  with  to  be  done 
unto.  Lift  up  your  voices  like  a  trumpet ;  cry  aloud  tn  the 


444          WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

cause  of  humanity,  benevolence,  philosophy :  eloquence  can 
never  be  directed  to  a  nobler  purpose  ;  religion  never  employed 
in  a  more  glorious  cause ;  cluirity  never  meditate  a  more  ex 
alted  jliglU.  Oh  that  a  live  coal  from  the  burning  altar  of 
celestial  .beneficence  might  warm  the  hearts  of  the  sacred 
order,  and  impassion  the  feelings  of  the  attentive  hearer  ! 

"  Gentlemen  of  the  Clergy  in  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island, 
Massachusetts,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  — 

"  Your  most  zealous  exertions,  your  unremitting  assidu 
ities,  are  pathetically  invoked.  Those  States  in  which  you 
minister  unto  the  Church  of  God  gave  us  birth.  We  are 
as  aliens  from  the  commonwealth  of  America.  We  are 
strangers  to  the  temples  of  our  God.  The  strong  arm  of 
infidelity  hath  bound  us  with  two  chains ;  the  iron  one  of 
slavery  and  the  sword  of  death  are  entering  our  very  souls. 
Arise,  ye  ministers  of  the  Most  High,  Christian*  of  every  de 
nomination,  awake  unto  charity  I  Let  a  brief,  setting  forth  our 
hapless  situation,  be  published  throughout  the  continent.  Be  it 
read  in  every  house  of  worship  on  Sunday,  the  8th  of  February. 
Command  a  preparatory  discourse  to  be  delivered  on  Sunday, 
the  15th  of  February,  in  all  churches  whithersoever  this  peti- 
tion  or  the  brief  may  come  ;  and  on  Thursday,  tlie  19th  of 
February,  complete  the  godlike  loork.  It  is  a  day  which  as 
sembles  a  continent  to  thanksgiving  ;  it  is  a  day  which  calls 
an  empire  to  praise.  God  grant,  that  this  may  be  the  day 
which  emancipates  the  forlorn  captive,  and  may  the  best 
blessings  of  those  who  are  ready  to  perish  be  your  abiding 
portion  forever  !  Thus  prays  a  small  remnant  who  are  still 
alive  ;  thus  pray  your  fellow-citizens,  chained  to  the  galleys 
of  the  impostor  Mahomet 

"  Signed  for  and  in  behalf  of  his  fellow-sufferers  by 

"  RICHARD  O'BRIEN, 
"  In  the  tenth  year  of  his  captivity"  l 

l  History  of  the  War  between  the  United  State*  and  Tripoli,  pp.  69-71. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY   STATES.        445 

The  cause  which  inspired  this  appeal  will  indispose 
the  candid  reader  to  any  criticism  of  its  exuberant  lan 
guage.  Like  the  drama  of  Cervantes  setting  forth  the 
horrors  of  the  galleys  of  Algiers,  it  was  "not  drawn 
from  the  imagination,  but  was  born  far  from  the-regions 
of  fiction,  in  the  very  heart  of  truth." 1  Its  earnest  ap 
peals  were  calculated  to  touch  the  soul,  and  to  make  the 
very  name  of  slavery  and  slave-dealer  detestable. 


PARALLEL  BETWEEN    SLAVERY   IN   ALGIERS  AND  IN 
OUR  OWN   COUNTRY. 

I  SHOULD  do  injustice  to  truth,  if  I  did  not  suspend 
for  one  moment  the  narrative  of  this  Anti-Slavery 
movement,  to  exhibit  the  pointed  parallel  then  recog 
nized  between  slavery  in  Algiers  and  slavery  in  our 
own  country.  It  belongs  to  this  history.  Conscience 
could  not  plead  for  the  emancipation  of  white  fellow- 
citizens,  without  confessing  in  the  heart,  perhaps  to  the 
world,  that  every  consideration,  every  argument,  every 
appeal  for  the  white  man,  told  with  equal  force  for  the 
wretched  colored  brother  in  bonds.  Thus  the  interest 
awakened  for  the  slave  in  Algiers  embraced  also  the 
slave  at  home.  Sometimes  they  were  said  to  be  alike 
in  condition ;  sometimes,  indeed,  it  was  openly  declared 
that  the  horrors  of  our  American  slavery  surpassed  that 
of  Algiers. 

John  Wesley,  the  oracle  of  Methodism,  who  had  be 
come  familiar  with  slavery  in  our  Southern  States,  ad 
dressing  those  engaged  in  the  negro  slave-trade,  declared 
as  early  as  1774  :  "You  have  carried  the  survivors  into 
the  vilest  slavery,  never  to  end  but  with  life,  —  such 

l  Los.Bnfios  de  ArgeL 


446        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

slavery  as  is  not  found  among  the  Turks  at  Algiers"  1 
Another  writer  in  1794,  when  sympathy  with  the 
American  captives  was  at  its  height,  presses  the  parallel 
in  pungent  terms.  "For  this  practice  of  buying  and 
selling  slaves,"  he  says,  "  we  are  not  entitled  to  charge 
the  Algerines  with  any  exclusive  degree  of  barbarity. 
The  Christians  of  Europe  and  America  carry  on  this 
commerce  one  hundred  times  more  extensively  than  the 
Algerines.  It  has  received  a  recent  sanction  from  the 
immaculate  Divan  of  Britain.  Nobody  seems  even  to 
be  surprised  by  a  diabolical  kind  of  advertisements 
which  for  some  months  past  have  frequently  adorned 
the  newspapers  of  Philadelphia.  The  French  fugitives 
from  the  West  Indies  have  brought  with  them  a  crowd 
of  slaves.  These  most  injured  people  sometimes  run 
off,  and  their  master  advertises  a  reward  for  apprehend 
ing  them.  At  the  same  time  we  are  commonly  informed 
that  his  sacred  name  is  marked  in  capitals  on  their 
breasts,  —  or,  in  plainer  terms,  it  is  stamped  on  that  part 
of  the  body  with  a  red-hot  iron.  Before,  therefore,  we 
reprobate  the  ferocity  of  the  Algerines,  we  should  in 
quire  whether  it  is  not  possible  to  find  in  some  other 
region  of  this  globe  a  systematic  brutality  still  more 
disgraceful."  2 

Not  long  after  the  address  to  the  clergy  by  the  cap 
tives  in  Algiers,  a  voice  came  from  New  Hampshire,  in  a 
tract  entitled  "  Tyrannical  Libertymen,  a  Discourse  upon 

Negro  Slavery  in  the  United  States,  composed  at 

in  New  Hampshire  on  the  late  Federal  Thanksgiving 
Day," 8  which  does  not  hesitate  to  brand  American 

l  Thoughts  upon  Slavery  (1774).  p.  24. 

*  Short  Account  of  Algiers  (Philadelphia,  1794),  p.  18. 

8  From  the  Eagle  Office,  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  1705. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BAEBAEY  STATES.        4*7 

slavery  in  terms  of  glowing  reprobation.  "  There  was 
a  contribution  upon  this  day,"  it  says,  "  for  the  purpose 
of  redeeming  those  Americans  who  are  in  slavery  at 
Algiers,  —  an  object  worthy  of  a  generous  people. 
Their  redemption,  we  hope,  is  not  far  distant.  But 
should  any  person  contribute  money  for  this  purpose 
which  he  had  cudgelled  out  of  a  negro  slave,  he  would 
deserve  less  applause  than  an  actor  in  the  comedy  of 

Las  Casas When  will  Americans  show  that  they 

are  what  they  affect  to  be  thought,  —  friends  to  the 
cause  of  humanity  at  large,  reverers  of  the  rights  of 
their  fellow-creatures  ?  Hitherto  we  have  been  op 
pressors,  nay,  murderers  !  —  for  many  a  negro  has  died 
by  the  whip  of  his  master,  and  many  have  lived  when 
death  would  have  been  preferable.  Surely  the  curse 
of  God  and  the  reproach  of  man  is  against  us.  Worse 
than  the  seven  plagues  of  Egypt  will  befall  us.  If 
Algiers  shall  be  punished  seven  fold,  truly  America  sev 
enty  and  seven  fold."  These  words  might  not  imperti 
nently  be  uttered  in  our  present  debates. 

To  this  excitement  we  are  indebted  for  the  story  of 
"  The  Algerine  Captive,"  which,  though  now  forgotten, 
was  among  the  earliest  literary  productions  of  our  coun 
try,  reprinted  in  London  at  a  time  when  few  American 
books  were  known  abroad.  Published  anonymously, 
it  is  recognized  as  from  the  pen  of  Eoyall  Tyler,  after 
wards  Chief  Justice  of  Vermont.  In  the  form  of  a 
narrative  of  personal  adventures,  extending  through 
two  volumes,  a  slave  of  Algiers  depicts  the  horrors 
of  his  condition.  In  this  regard  it  is  not  unlike  the 
recent  story  of  "Archy  Moore,"  displaying  the  hor 
rors  of  American  slavery.  The  narrator,  while  engaged 
as  surgeon  on  board  a  ship  in  the  African  slave-trade, 


448        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  TUE  BABBABY  STATES. 

lias  an  opportunity  which  he  does  not  neglect.  After 
describing  the  reception  of  the  poor  negroes,  he  says : 
"  I  cannot  reflect  on  this  transaction  yet,  without  shud 
dering.  I  have  deplored  iny  conduct  with  tears  of  an 
guish  ;  and  I  pray  a  merciful  God,  the  Common  Parent 
of  the  great  family  of  the  universe,  who  hath  made  of 
one  flesh  and  one  blood  all  nations  of  the  earth,  that  the 
miseries,  the  insults,  and  cruel  woundings  I  afterwards 
received,  when  a  slave  myself,  may  expiate  for  the  inhu 
manity  I  was  necessitated  to  exercise  towards  these  my 
brethren  of  the  human  race." l  He  further  records  his 
meditations  and  resolves,  while  yet  a  captive  of  the  Al- 
gerines.  "  Grant  me,"  he  says,  from  the  depths  of  his 
own  misfortune,  "  once  more  to  taste  the  freedom  of  my 
native  country,  and  every  moment  of  my  life  shall  be 
dedicated  to  preaching  against  this  detestable  commerce. 
I  will  fly  to  our  fellow-citizens  in  the  Southern  States ; 
I  will,  on  my  knees,  conjure  them,  in  the  name  of  hu 
manity,  to  abolish  a  traffic  which  causes  it  to  bleed  in 
every  pore.  If  they  are  deaf  to  the  pleadings  of  Nature, 
I  will  conjure  them,  for  the  sake  of  consistency,  to  cease 
to  deprive  their  fellow-creatures  of  freedom,  which  their 
writers,  their  orators,  representatives,  senators,  and  even 
their  constitutions  of  government,  have  declared  to  be 
the  unalienable  birthright  of  man."2  This  is  sound 
and  significant 

Not  merely  in  the  productions  of  literature  and  in  fu 
gitive  essays  was  such  comparison  presented  ;  it  was  set 
forth  on  an  important  occasion  in  the  history  of  our 
country,  by  one  of  her  most  illustrious  citizens.  The 
opportunity  occurred  in  a  complaint  against  England 
for  carrying  away  from  New  York  certain  negroes,  in 

l  Chap.  XXX.  Vol.  L  p.  1W.  *  Chap.  XXXII.  Vol.  L  p.  218. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        449 

alleged  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1783.  In  an  elaborate 
paper,  John  Jay,  at  that  time  Secretary  for  Foreign 
Affairs  under  the  Confederation,  says :  "  Whether  men 
can  be  so  degraded,  as,  under  any  circumstances,  to  be 
with  propriety  denominated  goods  and  cliattds,  and  under 
that  idea  capable  of  becoming  'booty,  is  a  question  on 
which  opinions  are  unfortunately  various,  even  in  coun 
tries  professing  Christianity  and  respect  for  the  rights 
of  mankind."  He  then  proceeds  in  words  worthy  of 
special  remembrance  at  this  time :  "  If  a  war  should  take 
place  between  France  and  Algiers,  and  in  the  course  of 
it  France  should  invite  the  American  slaves  there  to 
run  away  from  their  masters,  and  actually  receive  and 
protect  them  in  their  camp,  what  would  Congress,  and 
indeed  the  world,  think  and  say  of  France,  if,  on  making 
peace  with  Algiers,  she  should  give  up  those  American 
slaves  to  their  former  Algerine  masters  ?  Is  there  any 
other  difference  between  tlie  two  cases  than  this,  namely, 
that  the  American  slaves  at  Algiers  are  WHITE  people, 
whereas  the  African  slaves  at  New  York  were  BLACK 
people?"  Introducing  these  sentiments,  the  Secretary 
remarks :  "  He  is  aware  he  is  about  to  say  unpopular 
things  ;  but  higher  motives  than  personal  considera 
tions  press  him  to  proceed." J  Words  worthy  of  John 
Jay! 

The  same  comparison  was  also  instituted  by  the 
Abolition  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  in  an  address  to 
the-  Convention  which  framed  the  National  Constitu 
tion.  "  The  sufferings  of  our  American  brethren  groan 
ing  in  captivity  at  Algiers,"  it  says,  "  Providence  seems 
to  have  ordained  to  awaken  us  to  a  sentiment  of  the 
injustice  and  cruelty  of  which  we  are  guilty  towards 

l  Secret  Journals  of  Congrese,  1766,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  274  -  279. 

CO 


450        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBABY  STATES. 

the  wretched  Africans."1  Shortly  afterwards  it  was 
again  brought  forward  by  Dr.  Franklin,  in  an  ingenious 
apologue,  with  all  his  peculiar  humor,  simplicity,  logic, 
and  humanity.  As  President  of  the  same  Abolition  So 
ciety  which  had  already  addressed  the  Convention,  he 
signed  a  memorial  to  the  earliest  Congress  under  the 
Constitution,  praying  it  "to  countenance  the  restora 
tion  of  liberty  to  those  unhappy  men  who  alone  in  this 
land  of  freedom  are  degraded  into  perpetual  bondage," 
and  to  "step  to  the  very  verge  of  the  power  vested  in 
them  for  discouraging  every  species  of  traffic  in  the  per 
sons  of  our  fellow-men."  2  In  the  congressional  debates 
on  the  presentation  of  this  memorial,  —  memorable  not 
only  for  its  intrinsic  importance  as  a  guide  to  the 
country,  but  as  the  final  public  act  of  a  chief  among 
the  founders  of  our  national  institutions,  —  several  at 
tempts  were  made  to  justify  slavery  and  the  slave- 
trade.  The  last  and  almost  dying  energies  of  Franklin 
were  excited.  In  a  remarkable  document,  written  only 
twenty-four  days  before  his  death,  and  published  in 
the  journals  of  the  time,  he  gave  a  parody  of  a  speech 
actually  delivered  in  Congress,  —  transferring  the  scene 
to  Algiers,  and  putting  the  congressional  eloquence  in 
the  mouth  of  a  corsair  slave-dealer,  inveighing  before 
the  Divan  against  a  petition  from  the  Purists  or  Abo 
litionists  of  Algiers.  All  the  arguments  adduced  in 
favor  of  negro  slavery  are  applied  by  the  Algerine  ora 
tor  with  equal  force  to  justify  the  plunder  and  enslave 
ment  of  whites.*  With  this  protest  against  a  great 
wrong,  Franklin  died. 

Most  certainly  we  are  aided  in  appreciation  of  Amer- 

1  BrlMot's  Travel*,  Letter  XXII.  Vol.  I.  p.  253. 

>  Annul*  of  Congreftn,  l«t  Cong.  1<\  Sc*«.  Vol.  II.  col.  1198. 

•  Sparks'8  Franklin,  Vol.  II.  p.  617. 


WHITE   SLAVEEY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        451 

lean  slavery,  when  we  know  that  it  was  likened,  by 
characters  like  Wesley,  Jay,  and  Franklin,  to  the  abom 
ination  of  slavery  in  Algiers.  But  whatever  may  have 
been  the  influence  of  this  parallel  on  the  condition  of 
the  black  slaves,  it  did  not  check  the  rising  sentiments 
of  the  people  against  White  Slavery. 

UNITED  STATES  AROUSED  AGAINST  WHITE  SLAVERY. 

THE  country  was  aroused.  A  general  contribution 
was  proposed.  The  cause  of  our  brethren  was  pleaded  in 
churches,  and  not  forgotten  at  the  festive  board.  At  all 
public  celebrations,  the  toasts  "  Happiness  for  all "  and 
"  Universal  Liberty,"  were  proposed,  not  more  in  sym 
pathy  with  Frenchmen  struggling  for  human  rights  than 
with  our  own  wretched  white  fellow-countrymen  in 
bonds.  On  one  occasion l  they  were  distinctly  remem 
bered  in  the  following  toast :  "  Our  brethren  in  slavery 
at  Algiers.  May  the  measures  adopted  for  their  re 
demption  be  successful,  and  may  they  live  to  rejoice  with 
their  friends  in  the  blessings  of  liberty!"  Generous 
words,  apt  for  all  in  bonds  ! 

Meanwhile  the  efforts  of  the  National  Government 
continued.  President  Washington,  in  his  speech  to  Con 
gress,  delivered  in  person  to  both  houses  in  the  Repre 
sentatives'  Chamber,  December  8,  1795,  said:  "With 
peculiar  satisfaction  I  add,  that  information  has  been 
received  from  an  agent  deputed  on  our  part  to  Algiers, 
importing  that  the  terms  of  the  treaty  with  the  Dey 
and  Regency  of  that  country  had  been  adjusted  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  authorize  the  expectation  of  a  speedy 

l  At  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  at  a  public  entertainment,  April  8.  1795.  In  honor 
of  French  successes.  —  Boston  Independent  Chronicle,  Vol.  XXVI 
14R9. 


452        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

peace,  and  the  restoration  of  our  unfortunate  fellow-citi 
zens  from  a  grievous  captivity." l  This  was  effected  on 
the  5th  of  September,  1795.  It  was  a  treaty  full  of 
humiliation  for  the  "  chivalry  "  of  our  country.  Besides 
securing  a  large  sum  of  money  to  the  Algerine  govern 
ment  in  consideration  of  present  peace  and  the  liberation 
of  captives,  it  stipulated  an  annual  tribute  of  "  twelve 
thousand  Algerine  sequins  in  maritime  stores."  a  But 
feelings  of  pride  disappeared  in  heartfelt  satisfaction. 
A  thrill  of  joy  went  through  the  land,  when  it  was  an 
nounced  that  a  vessel  had  left  Algiers,  having  on  board 
all  the  American  captives,  now  happily  at  liberty.  Their 
emancipation  was  purchased  at  the  cost  of  more  than 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  The  largess  of  money, 
and  even  the  indignity  of  tribute,  were  forgotten  in  grat- 
ulations  on  their  new-found  happiness.  The  President, 
in  his  speech  to  Congress,  delivered  in  person,  Decem 
ber  7,  1796,  presented  their  "actual  liberation"  as  a 
special  subject  of  joy  to  "  every  feeling  heart."  8  Thus 
did  the  National  Government  construct  a  bridge  of  gold 
for  Freedom. 

This  act  of  national  generosity  was  followed  by  peace 
with  Tripoli,  purchased,  November  4,  1796,  for  the  sum 
of  fifty-six  thousand  dollars,  — "  $  48,000  in  cash, 
$8,000  in  presents,"4 — under  the  guaranty  of  the  Dey 
of  Algiers,  who  was  declared  to  be  "  the  mutual  friend 
of  the  parties."  By  an  article  in  this  treaty,  negotiated 
by  Joel  Barlow,  —  out  of  tenderness,  perhaps  to  Ma- 
hometanism,  and  to  save  our  citizens  from  that  slavery 

1  Annul*  of  Congrww,  4th  Cong.  1st  Sem.  col.  11. 

>  United  State*  Statutes  at  Large,  Treaties,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  133.    Lyman's 
Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  p  362. 

•  Annnl«  of  Congress,  4th  Cong.  2d  Se«v  col.  1693. 

*  Lyman's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  p.  881,  note. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES.        453 

which  was  regarded  as  the  just  doom  of  "Christian 
dogs,"  —  it  was  expressly  declared  that  "the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  of  America  is  not  in  any 
sense  founded  on  the  Christian  religion."  x  By  a  treaty 
with  Tunis,  purchased  after  some  delay,  but  at  a  smaller 
price  than  that  with  Tripoli,  all  danger  to  our  citizens 
seemed  to  be  averted.  Here  it  was  ignominiously  pro 
vided,  that  fugitive  slaves,  taking  refuge  on  board  Amer 
ican  merchant  vessels,  and  even  vessels  of  war,  should 
be  restored  to  their  owners.2 

As  early  as  1787  a  more  liberal  treaty  was  entered 
into  with  Morocco,  which  was  confirmed  in  1795,8  at 
the  price  of  twenty  thousand  dollars ;  while,  by  a  treaty 
with  Spain,  in  1799,  this  slave-trading  empire  wprcssly 
declared  its  "  desire  that  the  name  of  Slavery  might  be 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  man." 4 

But  these  governments  were  barbarous,  faithless,  re 
gardless  of  humanity  and  justice.  Promises  with  them 
were  evanescent.  As  in  the  days  of  Charles  the  Sec 
ond,  treaties  were  made  merely  to  be  broken.  They 
were  observed  only  so  long  as  money  was  derived  under 
their  stipulations.  Soon  again  our  growing  commerce 
was  fatally  vexed  by  the  Barbary  corsairs ;  even  the 
ships  of  our  navy  were  subjected  to  peculiar  indigni 
ties.  In  1801  the  Bey  of  Tripoli  formally  declared  war 
against  the  United  States,  and  in  token  thereof  "our 

1  Article  XI.— United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  164.    Ly- 
man's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  pp.  380,  381. 

2  Article  VI.  —  United  States  Statutes  at  Large.  Vol.  VIII.  p.  167.     Ly- 
man's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  p.  400. —  This  treaty  has  two  dates. 

1797,  and  March,  1799.  William  Eaton  and  James  Leander  Cathcort  were 
agents  of  the  United  States  at  the  latter  date. 

«  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  100.  Lyman'.  Diplomacy, 
Vol.  II.  p.  850. 

<  History  of  the  War  between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  p.  » 


454        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   TUB  BARBARY   STATES. 

flag-staff  [  before  the  consulate]  was  chopped  down  six 
feet  from  the  ground,  and  left  reclining  on  the  terrace.'* l 
American  citizens  once  more  became  the  prize  of  man- 
stealers.  Colonel  Humphreys,  now  at  home  in  retire 
ment,  came  out  in  an  address  to  the  public,  calling 
again  for  united  action,  saying:  "Americans  of  the 
United  States,  your  fellow-citizens  are  in  fetters  !  Can 
there  be  but  one  feeling  ?  Where  are  the  gallant  rem 
nants  of  the  race  who  fought  for  freedom  ?  Where  the 
glorious  heirs  of  their  patriotism  ?  Will  there  never  be 
a  truce  between  political  parties  ?  Or  must  it  forever  be 
the  fate  of  FREE  STATES,  that  the  soft  voice  of  union 
should  be  drowned  in  tJie  hoarse  clamor  of  discord  ?  No  I 
Let  every  friend  of  blessed  humanity  and  sacred  free 
dom  entertain  a  better  hope  and  confidence."  2  Colonel 
Humphreys  was  not  a  statesman  only ;  he  was  known 
as  poet  also.  And  in  this  character  he  made  another 
appeal.  In  a  poem  on  "  The  Future  Glory  of  the  United 
States,"  he  breaks  forth  into  indignant  cpndemnation  of 
slaver}',  which  deserves  commemoration,  and,  whatever 
may  be  the  merits  of  its  verse,  should  not  be  omitted 
here. 

*  Teach  me  curst  slavery's  cruel  woes  to  paint, 
Beneath  whose  weight  our  captured  freemen  faint ! 

Where  am  I  ?    Heavens !  what  mean  these  dolorous  cries  ? 

And  what  these  horrid  scenes  that  round  mo  rise? 

Heard  ye  the  groans,  those  messengers  of  pain  ? 

Heard  ye  the  clanking  of  the  captive's  chain? 

Heard  ye  your  freeborn  sons  their  fate  deplore, 

Pale  in  their  chains  and  laboring  at  the  oar? 

Saw  ye  the  dungeon,  in  whose  blackest  cell, 

That  house  of  woe.  your  friends,  your  children,  dwell? 

Or  saw  ye  those  who  dread  the  torturing  hour, 

Crushed  by  the  rigors  of  a  tyrant's  power? 

1  Lyman's  Diplomacy,  Vol.  II.  p.  884. 

*  Miscellaneous  Works  of  David  Humphreys,  p.  76. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES.        455 

Saw  ye  the  shrinking  tlave,  the  uplifted  lash, 

TJie  frowning  butcher,  and  the  reddening  gash  f 

Saw  ye  the  fresh  blood,  where  it  bubbling  broke 

From  jntrple  scars,  beneath  the  grinding  stroke  t 

Saw  ye  the  naked  limbs  writhed  to  and  fro, 

In  wild  contortions  of  convulsing  woe  f 

Felt  ye  the  blood,  with  pangs  alternate  rolled, 

Thrill  through  your  veins  and  freeze  with  deathlike  cold, 

Or  fire,  as  down  the  tear  of  pity  stole, 

Your  manly  breasts,  and  harrow  up  the  soul?  "  * 

The  people  and  Government  responded.  And  here 
commenced  those  early  deeds  by  which  our  navy  be 
came  known  in  Europe.  Through  a  reverse  of  ship 
wreck  rather  than  war,  the  frigate  Philadelphia  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  Tripolitans.  A  daring  act  of  Decatur 
burned  it  under  the  guns  of  the  enemy.  Other  feats  of 
hardihood  ensued.  A  romantic  expedition  by  General 
Eaton,  from  Alexandria,  in  Egypt,  across  the  Desert  of 
Libya,  captured  Derne.  Three  several  times  Tripoli  was 
attacked,  and,  at  last,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1805,  entered 
into  a  treaty  by  which  the  freedom  of  three  hundred 
American  slaves  was  secured,  on  the  payment  of  sixty 
thousand  dollars ;  and  it  was  provided,  that,  in  the  event 
of  future  war  between  the  two  countries,  prisoners 
should  not  be  reduced  to  slavery,  but  should  be  ex 
changed  rank  for  rank,  and  if  there  were  any  deficiency 
on  either  side,  it  should  be  made  up  at  the  rate  of  five 
hundred  Spanish  dollars  for  each  captain,  three  handled 
dollars  for  each  mate  and  supercargo,  and  one  hundred 
dollars  for  each  seaman.2  Tims  did  our  country,  after 
successes  not  without  what  is  called  the  glory  of  arms, 
again  purchase  with  money  the  emancipation  of  white 
citizens. 

1  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Dnvid  Humphrey*,  pp.  5S,  M. 
«  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  VIII.  p.  214.     Lyman'a  Diplo 
macy,  Vol.  II.  p.  388. 


456        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

The  power  of  Tripoli  was  inconsiderable.  That  of  Al 
giers  was  more  formidable.  It  is  not  a  little  curious 
that  the  largest  ship  of  this  slave-trading  state  was  the 
Crescent,  of  thirty-four  guns,  built  in  New  Hampshire ; 1 
though  it  is  Juirdly  to  the  credit  of  our  sister  State  that  (lie 
Alycrine  power  derived  such  important  support  from  lier. 
The  lawlessness  of  the  corsair  broke  forth  again  in  the 
seizure  of  the  brig  Edwin,  of  Salem,  and  the  enslave 
ment  of  her  crew.  The  energies  of  the  country  were 
at  this  time  enlisted  in  war  with  Great  Britain;  but 
even  amidst  the  anxieties  of  this  important  contest  was 
heard  the  voice  of  these  captives,  awakening  a  corre 
sponding  sentiment  throughout  the  land,  until  the  Gov 
ernment  was  prompted  to  their  release.  Through  Mr. 
Noah,  recently  appointed  consul  at  Tunis,  it  offered  to 
purchase  their  freedom  at  three  thousand  dollars  a 
head.2  The  answer  of  the  Dey,  repeated  on  several 
occasions,  was,  that  "not  for  two  millions  of  dollars 
would  he  sell  his  American  slaves." 8  The  timely 
treaty  of  Ghent,  establishing  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
left  us  at  liberty  to  deal  with  this  enslaver  of  our 
countrymen.  At  once  a  naval  force  was  despatched  to 
the  Mediterranean,  under  approved  officers,  Commodores 
Bainbridge  and  Decatur.  The  rapidity  of  their  move 
ments  and  their  striking  success  had  the  desired  effect. 
In  December,  1816,  a  treaty  was  extorted  from  the  Dey 
of  Algiers,  by  which,  after  abandoning  all  claim  to  tribute 
in  any  form,  he  delivered  his  American  captives,  ten  in 
numl>er,  without  ransom,  and  stipulated  that  hereafter 
no  Americans  should  be  made  slaves  or  forced  to  liard 


1  History  of  the  War  between  the  United  States  and  Tripoli,  p.  88. 

*  Noah'*  Travel*,  pp.  89.  70. 

•  Ibid.,  p.  144.    National  Intelligencer,  March  7, 1816. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.        457 

labor,  and,  still  further,  that  "  any  Christians  whatso; 
ever,  captives  in  Algiers,"  making  their  escape,  and  tak 
ing  refuge  on  board  an  American  ship  of  war,  should  be 
safe  from  all  requisition  or  reclamation.1 

Decatur  walked  his  deck  with  impatient  earnestness, 
awaiting  the  promised  signature  of  the  treaty.  "  Is  the 
treaty  signed  ? "  he  cried  to  the  captain  of  the  port 
and  the  Swedish  consul,  as  they  reached  the  Guerriere 
with  a  white  flag  of  truce.  "  It  is,"  replied  the  Swede  ; 
and  the  treaty  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  brave 
commander.  "  Are  the  prisoners  in  the  boat  ? "  "  They 
are."  "  Every  one  of  them  ? "  "  Every  one,  Sir."  The 
captive  Americans  now  came  forward  to  greet  and  bless 
their  deliverer.2  Here,  on  a  smaller  scale,  was  the  same 
scene  which  had  given  such  satisfaction  to  the  Emperor 
Charles  the  Fifth  at  Tunis.  Surely  this  moment,  when 
he  looked  upon  emancipated  fellow-countrymen  and 
thought  how  much  he  had  contributed  to  overthrow 
the  relentless  system  of  bondage  under  which  they  had 
groaned,  must  have  been  one  of  the  sweetest  in  the  life 
of  our  hardy  son  of  the  sea.  But  should  I  not  say,  even 
here,  that  there  is  now  a  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  who, 
without  army  or  navy,  by  a  simple  act  of  self-renuncia 
tion,  has  given  freedom  to  a  larger  number  of  Christian 
American  slaves  than  was  liberated  by  the  sword  of 
Decatur  ?  Of  course  I  refer  to  Mr.  Palfrey. 

.  Not  by  money,  but  by  arms,  was  emancipation  this 
time  secured.    The  country  was  grateful  for  the  result, 
though  the  poor  freedmen,  engulfed  in  unknown  wastes 
of  ocean,  on  their  glad  passage  home,  were  never  abl 

1  United  State*  Statutes  at  Large,  VoL  VIII.  p.  224.  Lyman'.  Diplomacy, 
Vol.  II.  p.  376. 

2  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Dccutur,  p.  268. 
VOI.  I.  20 


458        WIUTE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

to  mingle  joys  with  their  fellow-citizens.  They  were 
on  board  the  Epervier,  of  which  no  trace  ever  appeared. 
Nor  did  the  people  feel  the  melancholy  mockery  of  the 
National  Government,  which,  having  weakly  declared 
that  it  was  "  not  in  any  sense  founded  on  the  Christian 
religion,"  now  expressly  confined  the  protecting  power 
of  its  flag  to  fugitive  "  Christians,  captives  in  Algiers," 
leaving  slaves  of  another  faith,  escaping  even  from  Al 
giers,  to  be  snatched  as  between  the  horns  of  the  altar 
and  returned  to  continued  horrors. 

WHITE   SLAVERY  ABOLISHED  BY  AN  ENGLISH  FLEET. 

THE  success  of  American  arms  was  followed  by  a 
more  signal  triumph  of  Great  Britain,  acting  generously 
in  behalf  of  all  the  Christian  powers.  Her  expedition 
was  debated,  perhaps  prompted,  in  the  Congress  of 
Vienna,  where,  after  the  overthrow  of  Napoleon,  the 
brilliant  representatives  of  European  nations,  with  the 
monarchs  of  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Russia  in  attendance, 
considered  how  to  adjust  the  disordered  balance  of  em 
pire,  and  to  remedy  evils  through  joint  action.  Among 
many  high  concerns  was  the  project  of  a  crusade  against 
the  Barl>ary  States,  to  accomplish  the  complete  abolition 
of  Christian  slavery.  For  this  purpose,  it  was  proposed 
to  form  "  a  holy  league,"  which  was  earnestly  enforced 
by  a  memoir  from  Sir  Sidney  Smith,1  the  same  who 
foiled  Napoleon  at  Acre,  and  at  this  time  president  of 
an  association  called  the  "  Knights  Liberators  of  the 

l  Mlmoire  our  la  Nlces*it4  et  Ics  Moyena  de  faire  ce**er  lea  Pirnteries  des 
£tate  Barbaresque*.  Re?u,  conalde're',  et  adopte"  a  Paris  en  Septembre,  a 
Turin  le  14  Octobre,  1814.  a  Vienne  durant  le  Congres.  Par  W.  Sidney 
Smith.  See  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  p.  130,  where  this  is  noticed. 
Schoell,  Histoire  de»  Traite's  de  Paix,  Tom.  XI.  p.  402. 


WHITE   SLAVEEY  IN  THE  BARBABY  STATES.        459 

White  Slaves  in  Africa,"  —  in  our  day  it  would  be 
called  an  Abolition  Society,  —  thus  adding  to  the  "doubt 
ful  laurels  of  war  the  true  glory  of  striving  for  the  free 
dom  of  his  fellow-man. 

Though  not  adopted  by  the  Congress,  this  project 
awakened  a  generous  echo.  Various  advocates  ap 
peared  in  its  support ;  and  what  the  Congress  failed  to 
undertake  was  now  especially  urged  upon  Great  Britain 
by  the  agents  of  Spain  and  Portugal,  who  insisted,  that, 
because  this  nation  had  abolished  the  trade  in  blacks,  it 
was  her  duty  to  extinguish  the  slavery  of  whites.1 

A  scandalous  impediment  seemed  to  interfere,  show 
ing  itself  in  a  common  belief  that  the  obstructions  from 
the  Barbary  States  were  advantageous  to  British  com 
merce  by  thwarting  and  strangling  that  of  other  coun 
tries,  and  that  therefore  Great  Britain,  ever  anxious  for 
commercial  supremacy,  would  do  nothing  for  their  over 
throw,  —  the  love  of  trade  prevailing  over  the  love  of 
man.2  This  imputation  of  sordid  selfishness,  willing 
to  coin  money  out  of  the  lives  and  liberties  of  fellow- 
Christians,  was  soon  answered. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1816,  Lord  Exmouth, 
already  distinguished  in  the  British  navy  as  Sir  Edward 
Pellew,  was  despatched  with  a  squadron  to  Algiers.  By 
general  orders  bearing  date  March  21,  1816,  he  an 
nounced  the  object  of  his  expedition  as  follows. 

"  He  has  been  instructed  and  directed  by  his  Royal  High 
ness,  the  Prince  Regent,  to  proceed  with  the  fleet  to  Algiers, 

l  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  p.  145.  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  XXVI. 
p.  449,  noticing  a  Letter  to  a  Member  of  Parlinment  on  th«  Slavery  of 
the  Christians  at  Algiers,  by  Walter  Croker,  Esq.,  of  the  Roynl  Navy, 
London.  1816.  Schoell,  Histoire  des  Trait#s  de  Paix,  Tom.  XI.  p.  402. 

«  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  XXVI.  p.  451.  Osier's  Life  of  Exmouth. 
p.  302.  Mackenzie's  Life  of  Decatur,  pp.  261-263. 


460        WHITE  SLAVERY  IX  THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

and  there  make  certain  arrangement*  for  diminishing,  at  leant, 
the  piratical  excursions  of  the  Barbary  States,  by  which  thou 
sand*  of  our  fellow-creatures,  innocently  following  their  com 
mercial  pursuits,  have  been  dragged  into  the  most  wretched  and 
revolting  state  of  slavery. 

"  The  commander-in-chief  is  confident  that  this  outrageous 
system  of  piracy  and  slavery  rouses  in  common  the  same  spirit 
of  indignation  which  he  himself  feels  ;  and  should  the  govern 
ment  of  Algiers  refuse  the  reasonable  demands  he  1  tours 
from  the  Prince  Regent,  he  doubts  not  but  the  flag  will  be 
honorably  and  zealously  supported  by  every  officer  and  man 
under  his  command,  in  his  endeavors  to  procure  the  accep 
tation  of  them  by  force  ;  and  if  force  must  be  resorted  to,  we 
have  the  consolation  of  knowing  that  we  fght  in  the  sacred 
cause  of  humanity,  and  cannot  fail  of  success."1 

The  moderate  object  of  his  mission  was  readily  ob 
tained.  "Arrangements  for  diminishing  the  piratical 
excursions  of  the  Barbary  States "  were  established. 
Ionian  slaves,  claimed  as  British  subjects,  were  re 
leased,  and  peace  was  secured  for  Naples  and  Sardinia,  — 
the  former  paying  for  subjects  liberated  five  hundred 
dollars  a  head,  and  the  latter  three  hundred  dollars. 
This  was  at  Algiers.  Lord  Exmouth  proceeded  next  to 
Tunis  and  Tripoli,  where,  acting  beyond  his  instructions, 
he  obtained  from  both  these  piratical  governments  the 
promise  to  abolish  Christian  slavery  within  their  re 
spective  dominions.  In  one  of  his  letters  on  this 
event  he  says,  that,  in  pressing  these  concessions,  he 
"  acted  solely  on  his  own  responsibility  and  without  or 
ders, —  the  causes  and  reasoning  on  which,  upon  general 
principles,  may  be  defensible,  but,  as  applying  to  our 
own  country,  may  not  be  borne  out,  the  old  mercantile 

1  Osler't  Life  of  Exmouth,  p.  297. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE   BARBAEY  STATES.        461 

interest  being  against  it"  l  It  is  curious  to  recall  a  sim 
ilar  distrust  excited  in  another  age  by  a  similar  achieve 
ment.  Admiral  Blake,  after  his  attack  upon  Tunis,  ap 
pealed  to  the  government  of  Cromwell,  in  words  appli 
cable  to  the  recent  occasion,  saying  :  "  And  now,  seeing 
it  hath  pleased  God  soe  signally  to  justify  us  herein,  I 
hope  His  Highness  will  not  be  offended  at  it,  nor  any 
who  regard  duely  the  honor  of  our  nation,  'altlwuyh  I  ex 
pect  to  heare  of  many  complaints  and  clamors  of  interested 
men."  2  Thus,  more  than  once,  in  these  efforts  to  abolish 
White  Slavery,  did  Commerce,  daughter  of  Freedom,  fall 
under  suspicion  of  disloyalty  to  her  parent. 

Lord  Exmouth  did  injustice  to  the  moral  sense  of 
England.  His  conduct  was  sustained  and  applauded, 
not  only  in  the  House  of  Commons,  but  by  the  coun 
try  at  large.  He  was  sent  back  to  Algiers  —  which 
had  failed  to  make  any  general  renunciation  of  White 
Slavery  —  to  extort  this  stipulation  by  force.  British 
historians  regard  this  expedition  with  peculiar  pride. 
In  all  the  annals  of  their  triumphant  navy  there  is 
none  where  the  barbarism  of  war  seems  so  much  to 
"  smooth  its  wrinkled  front."  With  a  fleet  complete 
at  all  points,  the  good  Admiral  set  sail  July  25,  1816, 
on  what  was  deemed  a  holy  war.  With  five  line-of- 
battle  ships,  five  frigates,  four  bomb-vessels,  and  five 
gun-brigs,  besides  a  Dutch  fleet  of  five  frigates  and 
a  corvette,  under  Admiral  Van  Capellen,  —  who,  on 
learning  the  object  of  the  expedition,  solicited  and  ob 
tained  leave  to  cooperate,  he  anchored  before  the  for 
midable  fortifications  of  Algiers.  It  would  not  be 
agreeable  or  instructive  to  dwell  on  the  scene  of  deso- 

1  Osier's  Life  of  Exmouth,  p.  303. 

2  Thurloc's  State  Papers,  Vol.  III.  p.  890. 


462        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES. 

lation  and  blood  which  ensued.  Before  night  the  fleet 
fired,  besides  shells  and  rockets,  one  hundred  and  eigh 
teen  tons  of  powder,  and  fifty  thousand  shot,  weighing 
more  than  five  hundred  tons.  The  citadel  and  massive 
batteries  of  Algiers  were  shattered  and  crumbled  to  ruins. 
Storehouses,  ships,  and  gunboats  were  in  flames,  while 
the  blazing  lightnings  of  battle  were  answered  by  the 
lightnings  of  "heaven  in  a  storm  of  signal  fury.  The 
power  of  the  Great  Slave-dealer  was  humbled. 

The  terms  of  submission  were  announced  to  his  fleet 
in  an  order  of  the  Admiral,  dated,  Queen  Charlotte,  Al 
giers  Bay,  August  30, 1816,  which  may  be  read  with  tru 
er  pleasure  than  any  other  in  military  or  naval  history. 

"  The  commander-in-chief  is  happy  to  inform  the  fleet  of 
the  final  termination  of  their  strenuous  exertions,  by  the 
signature  of  peace,  confirmed  under  a  salute  of  twenty-one 
guns,  on  the  following  conditions,  dictated  by  his  Royal 
Highness,  the  Prince  Regent  of  England. 

"I.  THE  ABOLITION  OP  CHRISTIAN  SLAVERY  FOREVER. 

"  II.  The  delivery  to  my  flag  of  all  slaves  in  the  dominions 
of  the  Dey,  to  whatever  nation  they  may  belong,  at  noon  to 
morrow. 

"III.  To  deliver  also  to  my  flag  all  money  received  by 
him  for  the  redemption  of  slaves  since  the  commencement 
of  this  year,  at  noon  also  to-morrow."  * 

On  the  next  day  upwards  of  twelve  hundred  slaves 
were  emancipated,  making,  with  those  liberated  in  his 
earlier  expedition,  more  than  three  thousand,  whom,  by 
address  or  force,  Lord  Exmouth  delivered  from  bond 
age.2 

l  0»1er'»  Life  of  Exmerath,  p.  839 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  834,  836.     Annual  Register,  1816,  Vol.  L VIII.  pp.  97]  - 105]. 
Shaler's  Sketches.of  Algiers  pp.  279-294. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES.         4G3 

Thus  ended  White  Slavery  in  the  Barbary  States. 
Already  it  had  died  out  in  Morocco.  Quietly  it  had 
been  renounced  by  Tripoli  and  Tunis.  Its  last  retreat 
was  Algiers,  whence  it  was  driven  amidst  the  thunder 
of  the  British  cannon. 

Signal  honors  awaited  the  Admiral.  He  was  elevated 
to  a  new  rank  in  the  peerage,  and  on  his  coat-of-arms 
was  emblazoned  a  figure  never  before  known  in  heraldry, 
—  a  Christian  slave  holding  aloft  the  cross  and  dropping 
his  broken  fetters.1  From  the  officers  of  the  squadron 
he  received  a  costly  service  of  plate,  with  an  inscription, 
in  testimony  of  "  the  memorable  victory  gained  at  Al 
giers,  where  the  great  cause  of  Christian  freedom  was 
bravely  fought  and  nobly  accomplished." 2  Higher  far 
than  honor  were  the  rich  personal  satisfactions  he  de 
rived  from  the  beneficent  cause  in  which  he  was  en 
listed.  In  a  despatch  to  the  Government,  describing  the 
battle,  he  says,  in  words  which  may  be  felt  by  others, 
warring  for  the  overthrow  of  slavery  :  "  In  all  the  vicis 
situdes  of  a  long  life  of  public  service,  no  circumstance 
has  ever  produced  on  my  mind  such  impressions  of 
gratitude  and  joy  as  the  event  of  yesterday.  To  have 
been  one  of  the  humble  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
Divine  Providence  for  bringing  to  reason  a  ferocious 
government,  and  destroying  forever  the  insit/erable  and 
horrid  system  of  Christian  slavery,  can  never  cease  to 
be  a  source  of  delight  and  heartfelt  comfort  to  every  in 
dividual  happy  enough  to  be  employed  in  it."  l 

The  reverses  of  Algiers  did  not  end  here.  Christian 
slavery  was  abolished;  but  in  1830  the  insolence  of 

1  Osier's  Life  of  Exmouth,  p.  840. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  342. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  432.    Shaler's  Sketches  of  Algiers,  p.  282. 


464        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

this  barbarian  government  awoke  the  vengeance  of 
France  to  take  military  possession  of  the  whole  coun 
try.  Algiers  capitulated,  the  Dey  abdicated,  and  this 
considerable  power  became  a  French  colony. 

Thus  I  have  endeavored  to  present  what  I  could 
glean  in  various  fields  on  the  history  of  White  Slavery 
in  the  Barbary  States,  —  often  employing  the  words  of 
others,  as  they  seemed  best  calculated  to  convey  the 
scene,  incident,  or  sentiment  which  I  wished  to  pre 
serve.  So  doing,  I  have  occupied  much  time ;  but  I 
may  find  my  apology  in  the  words  of  an  English  chron 
icler.  "  Algier,"  he  says,  "  were  altogether  unworthy  so 
long  discourse,  were  not  the  unworthinesse  most  worthy 
our  consideration :  I  meane  the  cruell  abuse  of  the 
Christian  name,  which  let  us,  for  inciting  our  zeale  and 
exciting  our  charitie  and  thankfulnes,  more  deeply 
weigh,  to  releeve  those  there  in  miseries  (as  we  may) 
with  our  paynes,  prayers,  purses,  and  all  the  best  me 
diations."  *  To  exhibit  the  crime  of  slavery  is  in  itself 
sufficient  motive  for  any  exertion. 


III. 

WHITE    SLAVERY    ILLUSTRATED    BY    EXAMPLES. 

BY  natural  transition  I  am  now  brought  to  inquire 
into  the  true  character  of  the  evil  whose  history  has  been 
traced.  Here  I  shall  be  brief. 

Slavery  in  the  Barbary  States  is  denounced  as  an 
unquestionable  outrage  upon  humanity  and  justice.  In 
this  judgment  nobody  hesitates.  Our  liveliest  sympa- 

l  Purchas's  Pilgrim*,  VcL  U.  p.  1666. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES.        465 

thies  attend  these  white  brethren,  —  torn  from  homes, 
the  ties  of  family  and  friendship  rudely  severed,  parent 
separated  from  child  and  husband  from  wife,  exposed 
at  public  sale  like  cattle,  and  dependent,  like  cattle,  upon 
the  uncertain  will  of  an  arbitrary  taskmaster.  We  read 
of  a  "  gentleman "  compelled  to  be  valet  of  the  barba 
rian  emperor  of  Morocco ; 1  and  Calderon,  the  pride  of 
the  Spanish  stage,  has  depicted  the  miserable  fate  of 
a  Portuguese  prince,  degraded  by  the  infidel  Moor  to 
carry  water  in  a  garden.  But  the  lowly  in  condition 
had  their  unrecorded  sorrows,  whose  sum-total  swells 
to  a  fearful  amount.  Who  can  tell  how  many  hearts 
have  been  wrung  by  the  pangs  of  separation,  how 
many  crushed  by  the  comfortless  despair  of  intermi 
nable  bondage  ?  "  Speaking  as  a  Christian,"  says  the 
good  Catholic  father  who  has  chronicled  much  of  this 
misery,  "if  on  the  earth  there  can  be  any  condition 
which  in  its  character  and  evils  may  represent  in 
any  manner  the  dolorous  Passion  of  the  Son  of  God 
(which  exceeded  all  evils  and  torments,  because  by  it 
the  Lord  suffered  every  kind  of  evil  and  affliction),  it  is, 
beyond  question  and  doubt,  none  other  than  slavery  and 
captivity  in  Algiers  and  Barbary,  whose  infinite  evils, 
terrible  torments,  miseries  without  number,  afflictions 
without  mitigation,  it  is  impossible  to  comprehend  in  a 
brief  span  of  time."2  When  we  consider  the  author's 
character  as  a  father  of  the  Catholic  Church,  it  will  be 
felt  that  language  can  no  further  go.  The  details  of  the 
picture  may  be  seen  in  the  report  of  another  Catholic 

1  Braithwaite's  Revolutions  in  Morocco,  p.  233. 

«  Haedo,  Historia,  pp.  139. 140.—  Besides  illnstrntions  of  the  hardships  of 
White  Slavery  already  introduced.  I  refer  briefly  to  the  following:  Kdin- 
burgh  Review,  Vol.  XXVI.  pp  452  -  454 :  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  p.  14fi; 
Life  of  General  William  Knton,  p.  100:  Noah's  Travels,  pp.  866,  867. 
20  *  DD 


466        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

father  at  a  later  day,  who  furnishes  a  chapter  on  the  con 
dition  of  Christian  slaves  in  Morocco.  Their  torments 
are  depicted :  constrained  to  work  at  all  hours,  without 
days  of  rest,  without  proper  food  ;  sometimes  the  diver 
sion  of  their  master,  "  who  makes  their  labor  his  rest 
and  their  sufferings  his  pleasure "  ;  subject  at  all  times 
to  his  capricious  will,  and  the  victims  of  horrid  cruelty. 
One  is  described  who  was  cast  naked  to  the  dogs,  but, 
amidst  the  torments  he  endured,  exhorted  his  fellow- 
captives  to  have  patience,  "telling  them  that  Jesus 
Christ  had  suffered  much  more  for  them  and  for  him  " ; 
—  saying  this,  he  gathered  up  his  bowels,  which  he 
drew  from  the  mouths  of  the  dogs,  till,  his  strength  fail 
ing  him,  he  expired,  and  they  devoured  him.  "  I  should 
never  have  done,"  says  the  father,  "  did  I  go  about  to 
relate  here  all  that  the  merchants  and  captives  told  us 
of  cruelties,  they  are  so  excessive."  l 

In  nothing  are  impiety  and  blasphemy  more  apparent 
than  in  the  auctions  of  human  beings,  where  men  are 
sold  to  the  highest  bidder.  Through  the  personal  ex 
perience  of  a  young  English  merchant,  Abraham  Brown, 
afterwards  a  settler  in  Massachusetts,  we  learn  how 
these  were  conducted.  In  1655,  before  the  liberating 
power  of  Cromwell  was  acknowledged,  he  was  captured, 
together  with  a  whole  crew,  and  carried  into  Sallee. 
His  own  words,  in  his  memoirs  still  preserved,  will  best 
tell  his  story. 

"  On  landing,"  he  says,  "  an  exceeding  great  com 
pany  of  most  dismal  spectators  were  led  to  behold  us 
in  our  captivated  condition.  There  was  liberty  for  all 
sorts  to  come  and  look  on  us,  that  whosoever  had  a 
mind  to  buy  any  of  us,  on  the  day  appointed  for  our 

1  Busnot,  History  of  the  Reign  of  Muley  Israael,  Chap.  VI.  p.  164. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY   STATES.         4G7 

sale  together  in  the  market,  might  see,  as  I  may  say, 
what  they  would  like  to  have  for  their  money ;  where 
by  we  had  too  many  comfortless  visitors,  both  from  the 
town  and  country,  one  saying  he  would  buy  this  man, 
and  the  other  that  man.  To  comfort  us,  we  were  told 
by  the  Christian  slaves  already  there,  if  we  met  with 
such  and  such  patrons,  our  usage  would  not  be  so  bad 
as  we  supposed ;  though,  indeed,  our  men  found  the  us 
age  of  the  best  bad  enough.  Fresh  victuals  and  bread 
were  supplied,  I  suppose  to  feed  us  up  for  the  market, 
that  we  might  be  in  some  good  plight  against  the  day 
we  were  to  be  sold. 

"And  now  I  come  to  speak  of  our  being  sold  into 
this  doleful  slavery.  It  was  doleful  in  respect  to  the 
time  and  manner.  As  to  the  time,  it  was  on  our  Sab 
bath  day,  in  the  morning,  about  the  time  the  people  of 
God  were  about  to  enjoy  the  liberty  of  God's  house : 
this  was  the  time  our  bondage  was  confirmed.  Again, 
it  was  sad  in  respect  to  the  manner  of  our  selling. 
Being  all  of  us  brought  into  the  market-place,  we  were 
led  about,  two  or  three  at  a  time,  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
concourse  of  people,  both  from  the  town  and  country, 
who  had  a  full  sight  of  us,  and  if  that  did  not  satisfy, 
they  would  come  and  feel  of  your  hand  and  look  into 
your  mouth  to  see  whether  you  are  sound  in  health,  or 
to  see  by  the  hardness  of  your  hand  whether  you  have 
been  a  laborer  or  not.  The  manner  of  buying  is  this : 
he  that  bids  the  greatest  price  hath  you,  —  they  bidding 
one  upon  another,  until  the  highest  has  you  for  a  slave, 
whoever  he  is,  or  wherever  he  dwells. 

"  As  concerning  myself,  being  brought  to  the  market  in 
the  weakest  condition  of  any  of  our  men,  I  was  led  forth 
among  the  cruel  multitude  to  be  sold.  As  yet  being  un- 


4G8        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES. 

discovered  what  I  was,  I  was  like  to  have  been  sold  at  a 
very  low  rate,  not  above  fifteen  pounds  sterling,  whereas 
our  ordinary  seamen  were  sold  for  thirty  pounds  and 
thirty-five  pounds  sterling,  and  two  boys  were  sold  for 
forty  pounds  apiece ;  and  being  in  this  sad  posture  led 
up  and  down  at  least  one  hour  and  an  half,  during  which 
time  a  Dutchman,  that  was  our  carpenter,  discovered 
me  to  some  Jews,  they  increased  from  fifteen  to  seventy- 
five  pounds,  which  was  the  price  my  patron  gave  for  me, 
being  three  hundred  ducats  ;  and  had  I  not  been  so 
weakened,  and  in  these  rags  (indeed,  I  made  myself 
more  so  than  I  was,  for  sometimes,  as  they  led  me,  I 
pretended  I  could  not  go,  and  did  often  sit  down),  — 
I  say,  had  not  these  things  been,  in  all  likelihood  I  had 
been  sold  for  as  much  again  in  the  market,  and  thus  I  had 
been  dearer,  and  the  difficulty  greater  to  be  redeemed. 
During  the  time  of  my  being  led  up  and  down  the 
market,  I  was  possessed  with  the  greatest  fears,  not 
knowing  who  my  patron  might  be.  I  feared  it  might 
be  one  from  the  country,  who  would  carry  me  where  I 
could  not  return,  or  it  might  be  one  in  and  about  Sallee, 
of  which  we  had  sad  accounts,  and  many  other  distract 
ing  thoughts  I  had.  And  though  I  was  like  to  have 
been  sold  unto  the  most  cruel  man  in  Sallee,  there  being 
but  one  piece-of-eight  between  him  and  my  patron,  yet 
the  Lord  was  pleased  to  cause  him  to  buy  me,  of  whom 
I  may  speak,  to  the  glory  of  God,  as  the  kindest  man  in 
the  place." l 

This  is  the  story  of  a  respectable  person,  little  distin 
guished  in  the  world.  But  the  slave-dealer  applied  his 
inexorable  system  without  distinction  of  persons. 

1  Memoirs  of  Abraham  Brown,  MS. 


WHITE   SLAVEBY  IN  THE  BAKBA11Y   STATES.        469 


ST.  VINCENT  DE  PAUL  A  SLAVE. 

THE  experience  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  did  not  differ 
from  that  of  Abraham  Brown.  That  illustrious  charac 
ter,  admired,  beloved,  and  worshipped  by  large  circles  of 
mankind,  has  also  left  a  record  of  his  sale  as  a  slave. 

"  Their  proceedings  at  our  sale,"  he  says,  "  were  as  fol 
lows.  After  we  had  been  stripped,  they  gave  to  each 
one  of  us  a  pair  of  drawers,  a  linen  coat,  with  a  cap,  and 
paraded  us  through  the  city  of  Tunis,  whither  they  had 
come  expressly  to  sell  us.  Having  made  us  take  five  or 
six  turns  through  the  city,  with  the  chain  at  our  necks, 
they  conducted  us  back  to  the  boat,  that  the  merchants 
might  come  and  see  who  could  eat  well  and  who  not, 
and  to  show  that  our  wounds  were  not  mortal.  This 
done,  they  took  us  to  the  public  square,  where  the  mer 
chants  came  to  visit  us,  precisely  as  is  done  at  the  pur 
chase  of  a  horse  or  an  ox,  making  us  open  our  mouths 
to  see  our  teeth,  feeling  our  sides,  probing  our  wounds, 
and  making  us  walk  about,  trot,  and  run,  then  lift 
burdens,  and  then  wrestle,  in  order  to  see  the  strength 
of  each,  and  a  thousand  other  sorts  of  brutalities." 1 

In  this  simple  narrative  what  occasion  for  humilia 
tion  and  encouragement !  Well  may  we  be  humbled, 
that  a  nature  so  divine  was  subject  to  this  cruel  lot ! 
"Well  may  we  be  encouraged,  as  we  contemplate  the 
heights  of  usefulness  and  renown  which  this  slave  at 
last  reached ! 

i  Biographic  Universelle(Michaud):  Art,  Fine***  de  Paul 


470        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  TUB  BARBARY  STATES. 


CERVANTES  A  SLAVE. 

HERE  we  may  refer  again  to  Cervantes,  whose  pen 
was  dipped  in  his  own  dark  experience.  His  "  Life  in 
Algiers"  exhibits  the  horrors  of  the  slave-market  as  it 
might  be  exhibited  now.  The  public  crier  exposes  for 
sale  a  father  and  mother  with  two  children.  They  are 
to  be  sold  separately,  or,  according  to  the  language  of 
our  day,  "  in  lots  to  suit  purchasers."  The  father  is  re 
signed,  confiding  in  God ;  the  mother  sobs ;  while  the 
children,  ignorant  of  the  inhumanity  of  men,  show  an 
instinctive  trust  in  the  constant  and  wakeful  protec 
tion  of  their  parents,  —  now,  alas  !  impotent  to  shield 
them  from  dire  calamity.  A  merchant,  inclining  to  pur 
chase  one  of  the  children,  and  wishing  to  ascertain  his 
bodily  condition,  makes  him  open  his  mouth.  The 
child,  ignorant  of  the  destiny  which  awaits  him,  im 
agines  that  the  purchaser  is  about  to  extract  a  tooth, 
and,  assuring  him  that  it  does  not  ache,  begs  him  to  de- 
lilt  The  merchant,  in  other  respects  estimable  enough, 
pays  one  hundred  and  thirty  dollars  for  the  youngest 
child,  and  the  sale  is  completed.  Thus  a  human  being 
—  one  of  those  "  little  ones  "  who  inspired  the  Saviour 
to  say,  "  Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  "  —  is  pro 
fanely  treated  as  an  article  of  merchandise,  and  torn 
from  a  mother's  arms  and  a  father's  support.  The 
hardening  influence  of  custom  has  steeled  the  merchant 
into  criminal  insensibility  to  this  violation  of  humanity 
and  justice,  this  laceration  of  sacred  ties,  this  degrada 
tion  of  God's  image.  The  unconscious  heartlessness  of 
the  slave-dealer  and  the  anguish  of  his  victims  are  de 
picted  in  the  dialogue  which  ensues  after  the  sale. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IX  THE   BARBARY   STATES.        471 

MERCHANT. 

Come  hither,  child,  't  is  time  to  go  to  rest. 

JUAN. 

Signer,  I  will  not  leave  my  mother  here, 
To  go  witit,  any  one. 

MOTHER. 

Alas  !  my  child,  thou  art  no  longer  mine, 
But  his  who  bought  thee. 

JUAN. 

WJtat !  tlien,  have  you,  mother, 
Forsaken  me  t 

MOTHER. 

0  Heavens  !  how  cruel  are  ye  ! 

MERCHANT. 
Come,  hasten,  boy. 

JUAN. 

Will  you  go  with  me,  brother  ? 

FRANCISCO. 

1  cannot,  Juan;  't  is  not  in  my  power; 
May  Heaven  protect  you,  Juan ! 

MOTHER. 
Oh,  my  child, 

My  joy  and  my  delight,  God  won't  forget  thee! 

JUAN. 

0  father !  mother !  whither  will  they  bear  me 
Away  from  you  ? 

MOTHER. 

Permit  me,  worthy  Signor, 
To  speak  a  moment  in  my  infant's  ear? 
Grant  me  this  small  contentment;  very  soon 

1  shall  know  nought  but  grief. 

MERCHANT. 

What  you  would  say 

Say  now;  to-night  is  the  last  time. 

MOTHER. 
To-night 
Is  the  first  time  my  heart  e'er  felt  such  grief. 

JUAN. 

Prny  keep  me  with  you,  mother,  for  1  know  not 
Whither  he  'd  carry  me. 

MOTHER. 
Alas!  poor  chilif, 
Fortune  forsook  thee  even  at  thy  birth. 


472        WHITE  SLAVEKY  IN  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

The  heavens  are  overcast,  the  elements 

Are  turbid,  and  the  very  sea  and  winds 

Are  all  combined  against  me.      Thou,  my  child, 

Know' tt  not  the  dart  mitfurtunet  inl»  ichtch 

Thou  art  to  early  /dunyrd,  but  happily 

Lacked  the  jxncer  U>  ctmiprthend  iJiyfate. 

What  I  would  crave  of  thee,  my  life,  since  I 

Must  never  more  be  blessed  with  seeing  thee, 

Is  that  thou  never,  never  wilt  forget 

To  say,  as  thou  wert  wont,  thy  Aw  Mary ; 

For  that  bright  queen  of  goodness,  grace,  and  virtue 

Can  loosen  all  thy  bonds  and  give  thee  freedom. 

AYDAR. 

Behold  the  wicked  Christian,  how  she  counsels 

Her  innocent  child !     You  wish,  then,  that  your  child 

Should,  like  yourself,  continue  still  in  error. 

JUAN. 

0  motlier,  rnc&e r,  may  I  not  remain  t 
And  mutt  theie  M»ori,  then,  carry  me  awayt 

MOTHER. 
With  thee,  my  child,  they  rob  me  of  my  treasures. 

JUAN. 
Oh,  I  am  much  afraid ! 

MOTHER. 
'T  is  I,  my  child, 

Who  ought  to  fear  at  seeing  thee  depart. 
Thou  wilt  forget  thy  God,  me,  and  thyself. 
What  else  can  I  expect  from  thee,  abandoned 
At  such  a  tender  age  amongst  a  people 
Full  of  deceit  and  all  iniquity? 

CRIER. 

Silence,  ynu  rillanout  iroman  !  if  you  would  not 
Hate  your  head  pay  for  what  ynur  tvayue  hat  done. 1 

1  This  translation  Is  borrowed  from  Sismondi's  Literature  of  the  South 
of  Europe,  by  Roncoe,  Vol.  III.  p.  881.  There  is  a  letter  of  John  Dunton, 
Mariner,  addressed  to  the  English  Admiralty  in  1637,  which  might  furnish 
the  foundation  of  a  similar  scene.  "  For  my  only  son,"  he  says,  "  is  now  a 
slave  in  Algier,  and  but  ten  years  of  age,  and  like  to  be  lost  forever,  without 
God's  great  mercy  and  the  king's  clemency,  which,  I  hope,  mny  be  in  some 
manner  obtained."  —  A  True  Journal  of  the  Sallee  Fleet,  with  the  Proceed 
ings  of  the  Voyage,  published  by  John  Dunton,  London  Mariner,  Master  of 
the  Admiral,  called  the  Leopard :  Osborne's  Voyages,  Vol.  II.  p.  492. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        473 

From  such  a  scene  we  gladly  turn  away,  while,  in 
the  sincerity  of  our  hearts,  we  give  our  sympathies  to 
the  unhappy  sufferers.  Fain  would  we  avert  their  fate ; 
fain  would  we  destroy  the  system  of  bondage  that  has 
made  them  wretched  and  their  masters  cruel.  And  yet 
we  must  not  judge  with  harshness  the  Algeriue  slave 
owner,  who,  reared  in  a  religion  of  slavery,  learned  to 
regard  Christians  "  guilty  of  a  skin  not  colored  like  his 
own  "  as  lawful  prey,  and  found  sanctions  for  his  con 
duct  in  the  injunctions  of  the  Koran,  the  custom  of 
his  country,  and  the  instinctive  dictates  of  an  imagined 
self-interest.  It  is,  then,  the  "peculiar  institution" 
which  we  are  aroused  to  execrate,  rather  than  the  Al- 
gerine  slave-masters  glorying  in  its  influence,  nor  per 
ceiving  their  foul  disfigurement. 


TESTIMONY  OF  GENERAL  EATON. 

THERE  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  sufferings  of  white 
slaves  were  not  often  greater  than  is  the  natural  inci 
dent  of  slavery.  An  important  authority  presents  this 
point  in  an  interesting  light.  It  is  that  of  General 
Eaton,  for  some  time  consul  of  the  United  States  at 
Tunis,  and  conqueror  of  Derne.  In  a  letter  to  his  wife, 
dated  at  Tunis,  April  6,  1799,  and  written  amidst  op 
portunities  of  observation  such  as  few  have  possessed, 
he  briefly  describes  the  condition  of  this  unhappy  class, 
illustrating  it  by  a  comparison  less  flattering  to  our 
country  than  to  Barbary.  "  Many  of  the  Christian 
slaves,"  he  says,  "have  died  of  grief,  and  the  others 
linger  out  a  life  less  tolerable  than  death.  Alas  !  re 
morse  seizes  my  whole  soul,  when  I  reflect  that  this  is, 
indeed,  but  a  copy  of  the  very  barbarity  which  my  eyes 


474        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBABY  STATES. 

have  seen  in  my  own  native  country.  And  yet  we 
boast  of  liberty  and  national  justice.  How  frequently, 
in  the  Southern  States  of  iny  own  country,  have  I  seen 
weeping  mothers  leading  the  guiltless  infants  to  the 
sales  with  as  deep  anguish  as  if  they  led  them  to  the 
slaughter,  and  yet  felt  my  bosom  tranquil  in  the  view 
of  these  aggressions  upon  defenceless  humanity  !  But 
when  I  see  the  same  enormities  practised  upon  beings 
whose  complexion  and  blood  claim  kindred  with  my 
own,  I  curse  the  perpetrators,  and  weep  over  the 
wretched  victims  of  their  rapacity.  Indeed,  truth  and 
justice  demand  from  me  tlie  confession,  tlwt  tfie  Christian 
slaves  among  the  barbarians  of  Africa  are  treated  with 
more  humanity  than  tlw  African  slaves  among  the  pro- 
faring  Christians  of  civilized  America.  And  yet  here 
sensibility  bleeds  at  every  pore  for  the  wretches  whom 
fate  has  doomed  to  slavery."  l  These  words  are  ex 
plicit,  although  more  terrible  for  us  than  for  the  Bar- 
bary  States. 


INFLUENCE  OF  THE  KORAN. 

SUCH  testimony  would  seem  to  furnish  a  decisive 
standard  by  which  to  determine  the  character  of  White 
Slavery.  But  there  are  other  considerations  and  author 
ities.  One  of  these  is  the  influence  of  religion  on  these 
barbarians.  Travellers  remark  the  kind  treatment  be 
stowed  by  Mahometans  upon  slaves.3  The  lash  rarely, 
if  ever,  lacerates  the  back  of  the  female ;  the  knife  or 

1  Life  of  General  Eaton,  p.  164. 

«  Wilson'*  Travels  p.  98.  Noah's  Travel*,  p.  802.  Shaler's  Sketches  at 
Algiers,  p.  77.  Edinburgh  Review,  Vol.  XXXVIII.  p.  403.  Quarterly  Re- 
Tie  w,  Vol.  XV.  p.  168. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.         475 

branding-iron  is  not  employed  upon  any  human  being 
to  mark  him  as  property  of  his  fellow-man.  Nor  is 
the  slave  doomed,  as  in  other  countries,  where  the 
Christian  religion  is  professed,  to  unconditional  and  per 
petual  service,  without  prospect  of  redemption.  Hope, 
the  last  friend  of  misfortune,  may  brighten  his  captivity. 
He  is  not  so  walled  up  by  inhuman  institutions  as  to 
be  inaccessible  to  freedom.  "And  unto  such  of  your 
slaves,"  says  the  Koran,  in  words  worthy  of  adoption  in 
the  legislation  of  Christian  countries,  "  as  desire  a  writ 
ten  instrument  allowing  them  to  redeem  themselves  on 
paying  a  certain  sum,  write  one,  if  ye  know  good  in 
them,  and  give  them  of  the  riches  of  God  which  he  hath 
given  you." l  Thus  from  the  Koran,  which  ordains 
slavery,  come  lessons  of  benignity  to  the  slave ;  and 
one  of  the  most  touching  stories  in  Mahometanisin  is 
of  the  generosity  of  Ali,  the  companion  of  the  Prophet, 
who,  after  fasting  for  three  days,  gave  his  whole  provis 
ion  to  a  captive  not  more  famished  than  himself.2 

Such  precepts  and  examples  had  their  influence  in 
Algiers.  It  is  evident,  from  the  history  of  the  country, 
that  the  prejudice  of  race  did  not  so  far  prevail  as  to 
stamp  upon  slaves  and  their  descendants  any  indelible 
mark  of  exclusion  from  power  and  influence.  It  often 
happened  that  they  attained  to  great  posts  in  the  state. 
The  seat  of  the  Deys  was  filled  more  than  once  by  hum 
ble  captives  who  had  tugged  for  years  at  the  oar.3 

i  Sale's  Koran,  Chnp.  XXIV.  Vol.  II.  p.  194.  —The  right  of  redemption 
wns  recognized  by  the  Hindoo  laws.     (Hnlhed's  Code,  Chnp.  VIII.  §  2.)    1 
was   unknown   in    the   British  West  Indies  while   slavery  existed  there. 
(Stephen  on  West  India  Slavery,  Vol.  I.  p.  378.)    It  is  also  unknown  in 
the  Slave  States  of  our  country. 

a  Sale's  Koran,  Chap.  LXX  VI.  Vol.  II.  p.  474,  note. 

«  Haedo,  Historia  de  Arpel,  p.  122.  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  pp.  169, 
172.  Shuler's  Sketches  of  Algiers,  ?.  77.  Short  Account  of  Algiers,  pp.  22. 


47G        WHITE  SLAVERY  IX  THE  BARBARY  STATES. 


APOLOGIES  FOR  WHITE  SLAVERY. 

NOR  do  we  feel,  from  the  narratives  of  captives  and 
of  travellers,  that  the  condition  of  the  white  slave  was 
rigorous  beyond  the  ordinary  lot  of  slavery.  "  The  Cap 
tive's  Story  "  in  Don  Quixote  fails  to  impress  the  reader 
with  any  peculiar  horror  of  the  life  from  which  he  es 
caped.  It  is  often  said  that  the  sufferings  of  Cervantes 
were  among  the  most  severe  which  even  Algiers  could 
inflict.1  But  they  did  not  repress  the  gayety  of  his  tem 
per';  and  we  learn  that  in  the  building  where  he  was 
confined  there  was  a  chapel  or  oratory  in  which  mass 
was  celebrated,  the  sacrament  administered,  and  sermons 
regularly  preached  by  cairtive  priests.  Nor  was  this 
all.  The  pleasures  of  the  theatre  were  enjoyed  by  these 
slaves ;  and  the  farces  of  Lope  de  Rueda,  a  favorite 
Spanish  dramatist  of  the  time,  served,  in  actual  repre 
sentation,  to  cheer  this  house  of  bondage.2 

The  experience  of  the  devoted  Portuguese  ecclesias 
tic,  Father  Thomas,  illustrates  this  lot.  A  slave  in  Mo 
rocco,  he  was  able  to  minister  to  his  fellow-slaves,  and 
to  compose  a  work  on  the  Passion  of  Jesus  Christ,  much 
admired  for  its  unction,  and  translated  into  various 
tongues.  Liberated  at  last  through  the  intervention  of 
the  Portuguese  government,  he  chose  to  remain  behind, 
notwithstanding  the  solicitations  of  relatives  at  home, 

25.  —  It  *ecms  to  have  been  »nppo*ed,  Hint,  according  to  the  Koran,  the  con 
dition  of  slavery  cea»ed  when  the  party  became  a  Mn««ulman.  (Penny 
Cyclopaedia:  Art.  Slarery.  Noah'n  Travel*,  p.  802.  Shaler's  Sketches, 
p.  69.)  In  point  of  fact,  freedom  pcn<rally  followed  conversion  ;  but  I  do 
not  find  any  injunction  on  the  subject  in  the  Koran. 

1  "  T>t  lot  ptortt  qite  en  Argtl  atiia."  —  Haedo,  Historia  de  Argel,  p.  86. 
Navnrrete,  Vida  dc  Ccrvante«,  p.  861. 

*  Roscoe,  Life  of  Ccrvantea,  pp.  803,  804.    Cervantes,  Bafios  de  Argel. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY   STATES.         477 

that  he  might  continue  to  instruct  and  console  the  un 
happy  men,  his  late  companions  in  bonds.1 

Even  the  story  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  so  brutally 
sold  in  the  public  square,  is  not  without  gleam  of  light. 
He  was  bought  by  a  fisherman,  who  was  soon  constrained 
to  get  rid  of  him, "  having  nothing  so  contrary  except  the 
sea."  He  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  an  old  man, 
whom  he  pleasantly  describes  as  a  chemical  doctor,  a 
sovereign  extractor  of  quintessences,  very  humane  and 
kind,  who  had  labored  for  the  space  of  fifty  years  in 
search  of  the  philosopher's  stone.  "  He  loved  me  very 
much,"  says  the  fugitive  slave,  "  and  pleased  himself  by 
discoursing  to  me  of  alchemy,  and  then  of  his  relig 
ion,  to  which  he  made  every  effort  to  draw  me,  promis 
ing  me  abundant  riches  and  all  his  learning."  On  the 
death  of  this  master  he  passed  to  a  nephew,  by  whom 
he  was  sold  to  still  another  person,  a  renegade  from  Xice, 
who  took  him  to  the  mountains,  where  the  country  was 
extremely  hot  and  desert.  The  Turkish  wife  of  the  lat 
ter,  becoming  interested  in  him,  and  curious  to  know  his 
manner  of  living  at  home,  came  to  see  him  every  day  at 
his  work  in  the  fields,  and  listened  with  delight  to  the 
slave,  away  from  his  country  and  the  churches  of  his 
religion,  as  he  sang  the  psalm  of  the  children  of  Israel 
in  a  foreign  land :  "  By  the  rivers  of  Babylon  there  we 
sat  down ;  yea,  we  wept  when  we  remembered  Zion." 2 
Here  is  a  touch  of  romance,  which  is  all  the  more  in 
teresting  when  we  consider  the  great  life  in  which  it 
occurs. 

The  kindness  of  these  slave-masters  often  appears. 

i  Biographic  Universello  (Michnnd):  Art.   Thoma$  de  Jetut.     Digby's 
Bron»l  Stone  of  Honor,  Tnncretlvs,  §  9,  p.  181. 
a  Biographic  Univorselle:  Art.  Vincent  de  PnuL 


478        WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

The  English  merchant,  Abraham  Brown,  whose  sale  at 
Sallee  has  beeii  already  described,  confesses,  that,  after 
he  was  carried  home,  his  wounds  were  tenderly  washed 
and  dressed  by  his  master's  wife,  and,  "  indeed,  the 
whole  family  gave  him  comfortable  words."  He  was 
furnished  with  a  mat  to  lie  on,  "  and  some  three  or  four 
days  after  provided  with  a  shirt,  such  a  one  as  it  was, 
a  pair  of  shoes,  and  an  old  doublet."  His  servile  toils 
troubled  him  less  than  "  being  commanded  by  a  negro 
man,  who  had  been  a  long  time  in  his  patron's  house  a 
freeman,  at  whose  beck  and  command  he  was  obliged 
to  be  obedient  for  the  doing  of  the  least  about  the 
house  or  mill";  and  he  concludes  his  lament  on  this 
degradation  as  follows :  "  Thus  I,  who  had  commanded 
many  men  in  several  parts  of  the  world,  must  now  be 
commanded  by  a  negro,  who,  with  his  two  country 
women  in  the  house,  scorned  to  drink  out  of  the  water- 
pot  I  drank  of,  whereby  I  was  despised  of  the  despised 
people  of  tlie  world."  l  Here  the  free  negro  played  the 
part  so  often  played  by  the  white  overseer  in  our  own 
country. 

At  a  later  day  we  are  instructed  by  another  authen 
tic  picture.  Captain  Braithwaite,  who  accompanied  the 
British  Legation  to  Morocco  in  1727,  on  a  generous 
mission  of  liberation,  after  describing  their  comfortable 
condition,  adds :  "  I  am  sure  we  saw  several  captives 
who  lived  much  better  in  Barbary  than  ever  they  did 
in  their  own  country Whatever  money  in  char 
ity  was  ever  sent  them  by  their  friends  in  Europe  was 
their  own,  unless  they  defrauded  one  another,  which 
has  happened  much  oftener  than  by  the  Moors.  In 
short,  the  captives  have  a  much  greater  property  than 

i  Memoirs,  MS. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BAEBAEY  STATES.         479 

the  Moors  in  what  they  get,  several  of  them  being  rich, 
and  many  have  carried  considerable  sums  out  of  the 
country,  to  the  truth  of  which  we  are  all  witnesses. 
Several  captives  keep  their  mules,  and  some  their  ser 
vants  ;  and  yet  this  is  called  insupportable  slavery 
among  Turks  and  Moors.  But  we  found  this,  as  well 
as  many  other  things  in  this  country,  strangely  mis 
represented."  J  Listening  to  such  words,  I  seem  to  hear 
the  apologies  for  slavery  among  ourselves. 

Candor  compels  the  admission  that  these  authorities 
—  which,  with  those  who  do  not  place  freedom  above  all 
price,  seem  to  take  the  sting  from  slavery  —  are  not  with 
out  support  from  other  sources.  Colonel  Keatinge,  who, 
as  member  of  a  diplomatic  mission  from  England,  visit 
ed  Morocco  in  1785,  says  of  this  evil  there,  that  "it  is 
very  slightly  inflicted,"  and  "  as  to  any  labor  undergone, 
it  does  not  deserve  the  name  " ; 2  while  Mr.  Lempriere, 
who  was  in  the  same  country  not  long  afterwards,  adds  : 
"  To  the  disgrace  of  Europe,  the  Moors  treat  their  slaves 
with  humanity."  8  In  Tripoli,  we  are  told,  by  a  person 
for  ten  years  resident,  that  the  same  gentleness  pre 
vailed.  "  It  is  a  great  alleviation  to  our  feelings  on  their 
account,"  says  the  writer,  speaking  of  the  slaves, "  to  see 
them  easy  and  well-dressed;  and  so  far  from  wearing 
chains,  as  captives  do  in  most  other  places,  they  are 
here  perfectly  at  liberty."  *  We  have  already  seen  the 
testimony  of  General  Eaton  with  regard  to  slavery  in 
Tunis ;  while  Mr.  Noah,  one  of  his  successors  in  the 
consulate  of  the  United  States  at  that  place,  says : 

1  Braithwnite's  Revolutions  in  Morocco,  p.  363. 

2  Keattnge's  Travels,  p.  250.     Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  p.  146.    See 
also  Che'nier's  Present  State  of  Morocco,  Vol.  I.  p.  192,  Vol.  II.  p.  £69. 

«  Lempriere's  Tour,  p.  290.     See  also  pp.  8,  147,  190,  279. 
*  Narrative  of  a  Ten  Years'  Residence  at  Tripoli,  p.  241. 


480        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

"  In  Tunis,  from  my  observation,  the  slaves  are  not  se 
verely  treated ;  and  many  of  them  have  made  money."  l 
And  Mr.  Shaler,  speaking  of  the  chief  seat  of  Chris 
tian  slavery,  says :  "  In  short,  there  were  slaves  who 
left  Algiers  with  regret."  a  How  singularly  present  apol 
ogies  for  our  slavery  echo  these  voices  from  the  Barbary 
States! 

A  French  writer  of  more  recent  date  asserts,  with 
some  vehemence,  and  with  the  authority  of  an  eye-wit 
ness,  that  the  white  slaves  at  Algiers  were  not  exposed 
to  the  miseries  which  they  represented.  I  do  not  know 
that  he  vindicates  their  slavery,  but,  like  Captain 
Braithwaite,  he  evidently  regards  many  of  them  as  bet 
ter  off  than  they  would  be  at  home  According  to  him, 
they  were  well  clad  and  well  fed,  much  better  tlian  free 
Christians  there,  —  precisely  as  it  is  said  that  our  slaves 
are  much  better  off  than  free  negroes.  The  youngest  and 
most  comely  were  taken  as  pages  by  the  Dey.  Others 
were  employed  in  the  barracks ;  others  in  the  galleys : 
but  even  here  there  was  a  chapel,  as  in  the  time  of 
Cervantes,  for  the  free  exercise  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Those  who  happened  to  be  artisans,  as  carpenters,  lock 
smiths,  and  calkers,  were  let  to  the  owners  of  vessels ; 
others  were  employed  on  the  public  works  ;  while  oth 
ers  still  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  keeping  a  shop, 
where  their  profits  were  sometimes  so  large  as  to  enable 
them  at  the  end  of  a  year  to  purchase  their  ransom. 
But  these  were  often  known  to  become  indifferent  to 
freedom,  preferring  Algiers  to  their  own  country.  Slaves 
of  private  persons  were  sometimes  employed  in  the 
family  of  their  master,  where  their  treatment  necessa 
rily  depended  much  upon  his  character.  If  he  was 

»  Travel*,  p.  868.  *  Skctche*  of  Algiers,  p.  77. 


WH1TK  SLAVERY   IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES.        481 

gentle  and  humane,  theii  lot  was  fortunate ;  they  were 
regarded  as  children  of  the  house.  If  he  was  harsh 
and  selfish,  then  the  iron  of  slavery  did  indeed  enter 
their  souls.  Many  were  bought  to  be  sold  again  for 
profit  into  distant  parts  of  the  country,  where  they 
were  doomed  to  exhausting  labor ;  in  which  event  their 
condition  was  most  grievous.  But  special  care  was  be 
stowed  upon  those  who  became  ill,  —  not  so  much,  it  is 
said,  from  humanity  as  through  fear  of  losing  them.1 
This  whole  story  seems  to  be  told  of  us,  rather  than  of 
others. 


HATEFUL  CHARACTER. 

"WHATEVER  deductions  may  be  made  from  familiar 
stories  of  White  Slavery,  —  allowing  that  it  was  miti 
gated  by  the  genial  influence  of  Mahometanism, — 
that  the  captives  were  well  clad  and  well  fed,  much 
better  than  free  Christians  there,  —  that  they  were  per 
mitted  opportunities  of  Christian  worship,  —  that  they 
were  often  treated  with  lenity  and  affectionate  care,  — 
that  they  were  sometimes  advanced  to  posts  of  respon 
sibility  and  honor,  —  and  that  they  were  known,  in  con 
tentment  or  stolidity,  to  become  indifferent  to  freedom, 
—  still  the  institution  or  custom  is  hardly  less  hateful. 
Slavery,  in  all  its  forms,  even  under  mildest  influences, 
is  a  wrong  and  a  curse.  No  accidental  gentleness  of 
the  master  can  make  it  otherwise.  Against  it  reason, 
experience,  the  heart  of  man,  all  cry  out.  "  Disguise 
thyself  as  thou  wilt,  still,  Slavery,  still  thou  art  a  bitter 

1  Histoire  d'Alger:  Description  de  ce  Royaume,  etc.,  de  »es  Forces  de 
Terre  et  de  Mer,  Moeurs  et  Costumes  des  Hnbitans,  des  Mores,  des  Arabes, 
des  Juifs,  des  Chretiens,  de  »es  Loia.  etc.  (Paris,  163C),  Chap  XXVII. 
VOL.  I.  21  *'  K 


482        WHITE  SLAVEBY  IN   THE  BARBARY  STATES. 

draught ;  and  though  thousands  in  all  ages  have  been 
made  to  drink  of  thee,  thou  art  no  less  bitter  on  that  ac 
count."  *  Algerine  Slavery  was  a  violation  of  the  Law 
of  Nature  and  of  God.  It  was  a  usurpation  of  rights 
not  granted  to  man. 

"  0  execrable  son,  so  to  aspire 
Above  his  brethren,  to  himself  assuming 
Authority  usurped,  from  God  not  given! 
He  gave  us  only  over  beast,  fish,  fowl 
Dominion  absolute;  that  right  we  hold 
By  his  donation ;  but  man  over  men 
He  made  not  lord,  such  title  to  himself 
Reserving,  human  left  from  human  free."  a 

Such  a  God-defying  relation  could  not  fail  to  accumu 
late  disaster  upon  all  in  any  way  parties  to  it ;  for  in 
justice  and  wrong  are  fatal  alike  to  doer  and  sufferer. 
Notoriously  in  Algiers  it  exerted  a  most  pernicious  in 
fluence  on  master  as  well  as  slave.  The  slave  was 
crushed  and  degraded,  his  intelligence  abased,  even  his 
love  of  freedom  extinguished.  The  master,  accustomed 
from  childhood  to  revolting  inequalities  of  condition, 
was  exalted  into  a  mood  of  unconscious  arrogance  and 
self-confidence  inconsistent  with  the  virtues  of  a  pure 
and  upright  character.  Unlimited  power  is  apt  to 
stretch  towards  license ;  and  the  wives  and  daughters 
of  white  slaves  were  often  pressed  to  be  the  concu 
bines  of  Algerine  masters.8 

1  Sterne,  Sentimental  Journey:  Tke  Pattpori:  The  Hotel  at  Pari$. 

*  Paradise  Lost,  Book  XII.  64-71. 

•  Noah's  Travels,  pp.  248,  253.  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV.  p.  168.— 
Among  the  concubine*  of  a  prince  of  Morocco  were  two  slaves  of  the  age 
of  fifteen,  one  English  and  the  other  French.    (Lempriere's  Tour,  p.  147.) 
The  fate  of  "  one  Mrs.  Shaw,  an  Irish  woman,"  is  given  in  words  hardly 
polite  enough  to  be  quoted.    She  was  swept  into  the  harem  of  Muley 
Ismael,  who  "forced  her  to  turn  Moor;  ....  but  soon  after,  having  taken 
a  dislike  to  her,  he  gave  her  to  a  soldier."  —  Braithwaite's  Morocco,  p.  19L 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES.        483 

It  is  well,  then,  that  it  has  passed  away.  The  Bar- 
bary  States  seem  less  barbarous,  when  we  no  longer  dis 
cern  this  cruel  oppression. 


BLACK  SLAVERY  REMAINS. 

THE  story  of  slavery  in  the  Barbary  States  is  not  yet 
all  told.  While  they  received  white  slaves  from  sea, 
captured  by  corsairs,  they  also,  time  immemorial,  im 
ported  black  slaves  out  of  the  South.  Over  the  vast, 
illimitable  sea  of  sand,  absorbing  their  southern  border, 
traversed  by  camels,  those  "  ships  of  the  desert,"  were 
brought  these  unfortunate  beings,  as  merchandise,  with 
gold-dust  and  ivory,  doomed  often  to  insufferable  tor 
ment,  while  cruel  thirst  parched  the  lips,  and  tears  vain 
ly  moistened  the  eyes.  They  also  were  ravished  from 
home,  and,  like  their  white  brethren  from  the  North, 
compelled  to  taste  of  slavery. 

In  numbers  they  far  exceeded  their  white  peers. 
But  for  long  years  no  pen  or  voice  pleaded  their  cause  ; 
nor  did  the  Christian  nations,  professing  a  religion 
which  teaches  universal  humanity  without  respect  of 
persons,  and  sends  the  precious  sympathies  of  neigh 
borhood  to  all  who  suffer,  even  at  the  farthest  pole, 
ever  interfere  in  their  behalf.  The  navy  of  Great  Brit 
ain,  by  the  throat  of  its  artillery,  argued  the  freedom 
of  all  fellow-Christians,  without  distinction  of  nation, 
but  heeded  not  the  slavery  of  others,  brethren  in  bonds, 
Mahometans  or  idolaters,  children  of  the  same  Father 
in  heaven.  Lord  Exmouth  did  but  half  his  work. 
Confining  the  stipulation  to  the  abolition  of  Chris 
tian  slavery,  this  Abolitionist  made  a  discrimination, 
which,  whether  founded  on  religion  or  color,  was  self- 


484        WHITE  SLAVERY  IN  THE   BARBARY  STATES. 

isli  and  unchristian.  Here,  again,  we  notice  the  same 
inconsistency  which  appeared  in  Charles  the  Fifth,  and 
has  constantly  recurred  throughout  the  history  of  this 
outrage.  Forgetful  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  Chris 
tian  powers  deem  the  slavery  of  blacks  just  and  prop 
er,  while  the  slavery  of  whites  is  branded  unjust  and 
sinful 

As  the  British  fleet  proudly  sailed  from  the  harbor  of 
Algiers,  bearing  its  emancipated  white  slaves,  and  the 
express  stipulation  that  Christian  slavery  was  abolished 
there  forever,  it  left  behind  in  bondage  large  numbers 
of  blacks,  distributed  throughout  the  Barbary  States. 
Neglected  thus  by  exclusive  and  unchristian  Christen 
dom,  it  is  pleasant  to  know  that  their  lot  is  not  always 
unhappy.  In  Morocco  negroes  are  still  detained  as 
slaves  ;  but  the  prejudice  of  color  seems  not  to  prevail 
They  have  been  called  "  the  grand  cavaliers  of  this 
part  of  Barbary." l  They  often  become  the  chief  mag 
istrates  and  rulers  of  cities.2  They  have  constituted 
the  body-guard  of  emperors,  and,  on  one  occasion  at 
least,  exercised  the  prerogative  of  Praetorian  Cohort,  in 
dethroning  their  master.8  If  negro  slavery  still  exists 
here,  it  lias  little  of  the  degradation  it  entails  else 
where.  Into  Algiers  France  has  carried  the  benign 
principle  of  law,  which  assures  freedom  to  all  beneath 
its  influence.  And  now  we  are  cheered  by  the  glad 
tidings,  that  the  Bey  of  Tunis,  "  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  to  distinguish  man  from  the  brute  creation,"  has 
decreed  the  total  abolition  of  human  slavery  through 
out  his  dominions. 

l  Braithwsite's  Morocco,  p.  860.    Sec  also  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XV. 
p.  168. 
*  Braithwaite,  p.  222.  •  Ibid.,  p.  381. 


WHITE   SLAVERY  IN  THE  BARBARY   STATES.        485 

Turn,  then,  with  hope  and  confidence  to  the  Barbary 
States !  Virtues  and  charities  do  not  come  singly.  There 
is  among  them  a  common  bond,  stronger  than  that  of 
science  or  knowledge.  Let  one  find  admission,  and  a 
goodly  troop  will  follow.  Nor  is  it  unreasonable  to  an 
ticipate  other  improvements  in  states  which  have  re 
nounced  a  long-cherished  system  of  White  Slavery, 
while  they  have  done  much  to  abolish  or  mitigate  the 
slavery  of  others  not  white,  and  to  overcome  the  in 
human  prejudice  of  color.  The  Christian  nations  of 
Europe  first  declared,  and  practically  enforced  within 
their  own  European  dominions,  the  vital  truth  of  free 
dom,  that  man  cannot  hold  property  in  his  brother-man. 
Algiers  and  Tunis,  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  are  turned  from 
the  path  of  persecution,  and  now  receive  the  same  faith. 
Algiers  and  Tunis  help  to  plead  the  cause  of  Freedom. 
Such  a  cause  is  in  sacred  fellowship  with  all  those 
principles  which  promote  the  Progress  of  Man.  And 
who  can  tell  that  this  despised  portion  of  the  globe  is 
not  destined  to  yet  another  restoration  ?  It  was  here 
in  Northern  Africa  that  civilization  was  first  nursed, 
that  commerce  early  spread  her  white  wings,  that  Chris 
tianity  was  taught  by  the  honeyed  lips  of  Augustine. 
All  these  are  returning  to  their  ancient  home.  Civi 
lization,  commerce,  and  Christianity  once  more  shed 
benignant  influence  upon  the  land  to  which  they  have 
long  been  strangers.  New  health  and  vigor  animate 
its  exertions.  Like  its  own  giant  Antaeus,  whose  tomb 
is  placed  by  tradition  among  the  hillsides  of  Algiers, 
it  has  been  often  felled  to  earth,  but  now  rises,  with 
renewed  strength,  to  gain  yet  nobler  victories. 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

SPEECH  BEFORE  THE  BOSTON  PRISON  DISCIPLINE  SOCIETY, 
AT  THE  TREMONT  TEMPLE,  JUNE  18,  1847. 


AT  the  anniversary  of  the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  in  Park 
Street  Church,  May  27,  1845,  Mr.  Sumncr  was  present,  in  company  with 
his  friend,  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe.  Listening  to  the  Annual  Report,  they  were 
painfully  impressed  by  its  tone,  and  especially  by  the  injustice  done  to 
excellent  persons  in  Philadelphia,  sustaining  what  was  known  as  the 
Pennsylvania  System.  Without  being  an  advocate  of  this  system,  or 
committing  himself  to  it  in  any  way,  Mr.  Sumncr  thought  that  it  ought 
to  be  fairly  considered,  and  that  there  should  be  no  harsh  imputations 
upon  its  supporters.  With  the  encouragement  of  Dr.  Howe,  he  came 
forward,  and,  in  a  few  unpremeditated  remarks,  sought  to  point  out  the 
error  of  the  Report,  and  concluded  with  a  motion  for  a  select  committee 
to  review  and  modify  it,  with  power  to  visit  Philadelphia  in  the  name  of 
the  Society,  and  ascertain  on  the  spot  the  true  character  of  the  system 
so  strongly  condemned.  The  motion  prevailed,  and  the  President,  who 
was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland,  appointed  Dr  S.  G.  Howe,  Mr.  Sumner, 
Hon.  S.  A.  Eliot,  Hon.  Horace  Mann,  Dr.  Walter  Channing,  Rev.  Louis 
Dwight,  Hon.  George  T.  Bigelow,  and  Hon.  J.  W.  Edmonds  of  New 
York,  as  the  committee.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  prolonged  con 
troversy,  little  anticipated  when  Mr.  Sumner  first  came  forward,  where 
feeling  wns  displayed  beyond  what  seemed  natural  to  such  a  question. 

The  day  after  this  meeting,  Mr.  Sumner  received  a  friendly  letter 
from  the  President  of  the  Society,  thanking  him  for  the  remarks  he  had 
made,  and  encouraging  him  to  persevere.  This  letter  will  be  found  in 
the  speech  preserved  in  this  volume. 

The  C'ommittee  visited  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  received  with 
honor  and  kindness  by  the  gentlemen  interested  in  Prison  Discipline,  and 
examined  the  Penitentiary  with  every  opportunity  that  could  be  desired. 
An  elaborate  Report  was  prepared  by  Dr.  Howe.  How  this  failed  to 
be  adopted  as  the  Report  of  the  Committee,  and  to  be  embodied  in  tho 
Annual  Report  of  the  Society,  is  narrated  in  the  speech  below.  It  was 
afterwards  published  as  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "  An  Essay  on  Separate 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF   PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  487 

and  Congregate  Systems  of  Prison  Discipline,  being  a  Report  made  to 
the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,"  and  is,  beyond  question,  a  most 
important  contribution  to  the  science  of  Prison  Discipline.  The  proper 
treatment  of  criminals  is  here  considered  with  singular  power  and  sym 
pathetic  humanity. 

Disappointed  in  the  effort  to  obtain  a  candid  hearing  through  a  Report, 
the  subject  was  presented  again  at  the  anniversary  of  the  Society,  May 
26,  1846.  Mr.  Sumner  made  a  speech  of  some  length,  published  in 
the  newspapers,  concluding  with  a  motion  for  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  examine  and  review  the  former  printed  Report  of  the  So 
ciety,  also  the  course  of  the  Society,  and  to  consider  if  its  action  could 
in  any  way  be  varied  or  amended,  so  that  its  usefulness  might  be  ex 
tended.  Mr.  Sumner,  George  S.  Hillard,  Esq.,  Bradford  Sumner,  Esq., 
Dr.  Walter  Clianning,  Rev.  Louis  Dwight,  and  President  Wayland 
were  appointed  the  committee,  it  being  understood  that  they  would  not 
report  before  the  next  annual  meeting. 

Meanwhile  the  controversy  widened  in  its  sphere,  embracing  news 
papers,  and  extending  to  Europe,  where  it  excited  uncommon  interest. 
The  "  Law  Reporter,"  an  important  law  journal,  edited  by  Peleg  W. 
Chandler,  Esq.,  thus  referred  to  the  late  meeting,  and  to  Mr.  Sumner's 
speech  on  the  occasion. 

"  Mr.  Sumner  proceeded,  in  a  strain  of  great  eloquence  and  power,  to  con 
demn  the  course  which  the  Society  had  pursued  in  past  years,  illustrating 
his  points  by  facts  which  are  by  no  means  creditable  to  the  Society,  averring, 
among  other  things,  that  the  statements  contained  in  the  Annual  Reports 
had  been  pronounced  false  by  public  reports  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
and  that  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  William  Jay,  an  honorary  Vice-President  of 
the  Society,  and  also  a  letter  from  Dr.  Bell,  a  corresponding  member,  in 
favor  of  the  Separate  System,  had  both  never  been  read  to  the  Society,  nor 
published."  l 

At  the  same  time  the  Law  Reporter  translated  and  published  a  Ger 
man  article  by  Dr.  Varrentrapp,  of  Frankfort  on-the-Main,  which  ap 
peared  originally  in  the  Jahrbiicher  der  Gefanffnisskunde  und  Bessfrungs- 
instalten  (Annals  of  Prisons  and  Houses  of  Correction),  where  the  Re 
ports  of  our  Society  were  canvassed  with  great  severity.2 

Mr.  Sumner's  speech  was  reprinted  at  Liverpool  in  a  pamphlet. 
Letters  from  England,  France,  and  Germany  attested  the  concern  in 
those  countries.  Among  the  eminent  persons  who  watched  the  discus 
sion  was  M.  de  Tocquevillc,  whose  letter  on  the  subject  will  be  found 
at  the  end  of  the  speech  below.  At  home  it  called  forth  an  able  pam 
phlet  by  Hon.  Francis  C.  Gray, entitled  "Prison  Discipline  in  America," 
which  took  ground  against  the  Pennsylvania  System. 

i  Law  Reporter,  July,  1846,  Vol.  IX.  p.  98.  «  Ibid.,  p.  99. 


488  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

At  the  succeeding  anniversary,  May  25, 1847,  Mr.  Sumncr,  for  him 
self  and  two  of  his  associates  on  the  Committee,  (Dr.  Wa viand  and  Mr. 
Hilhird,)  presented  a  Report,  which  was  printed  in  the  newspapers.  Its 
character  will  be  inferred  from  the  Resolutions  with  which  it  concluded. 

"  Itt*>lretl,  That  the  object  of  our  Society  is  to  promote  the  improvement 
of  public  prisons. 

"  Rttolctd,  That  our  Society  is  not,  and  ought  not  to  be  considered,  the 
pledged  advocate  of  the  Auburn  System  of  Prison  Discipline,  or  of  any 
other  system  now  in  existence,  —  and  that  its  Reports  should  ret  forth,  with 
strict  impartiality,  the  merits  and  demerits  of  any  and  all  systems. 

"  Jttiolfed,  That  we  recognize  the  Directors  of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of 
Pennsylvania  as  sincere,  conscientious,  and  philanthropic  fellow-laborers  in 
the  great  cause  of  Prison  Discipline. 

"  Retolttd,  That,  if  any  expressions  of  disrespect  have  appeared  in  our 
Reports,  or  been  uttered  at  any  of  our  public  meetings,  which  have  justly 
given  pain  to  our  brethren,  our  Society  sincerely  regrets  them. 

"  lietvlrtd.  That  our  Society  should  strive,  by  increased  action  on  the  part 
of  its  officers  and  of  its  individual  members,  to  extend  its  usefulness. 

"  Ketolttd,  That  the  Board  of  Managers  be  requested  to  organize  a  new 
system  of  action  for  the  Society,  which  shall  enlist  the  cooperation  of  its 
individual  members." 

The  adoption  of  these  Resolutions  being  opposed,  the  meeting  was 
adjourned  for  their  consideration  till  the  evening  of  May  28th,  when 
Mr.  Sumncr  supported  them  in  a  speech  of  some  length,  which  will  be 
found  in  the  newspapers.  Other  meetings  followed,  by  adjournment, 
on  the  evenings  of  June  2d,  4th,  9th,  1 1th,  16th,  18th,  and  23d.  These 
were  all  at  the  Tremont  Temple,  and  were  attended  hy  Inrpc  and  most 
intelligent  audiences,  evincing  at  times  a  good  deal  of  feeling.  They 
were  presided  over  by  Hon.  Theodore  Lyman,  a  Vice-President  of  the 
Society.  The  Resolutions  were  supported  by  Dr.  Howe,  Mr.  Hillard, 
Rer.  Francis  Parkman,  and  Henry  H.  Fuller,  Esq.  They  were  op 
posed  by  Hon.  S.  A.  Eliot  (the  Treasurer  of  the  Society),  Rev.  Louis 
Dwight  (the  Secretary),  Hon.  Francis  C.  Gray,  Bradford  Sumner, 
Esq.,  Rev.  George  Allen,  Dr.  Walter  Channing,  and  J.  Thomas  Ste- 
Tenson,  Esq.  On  the  evening  of  June  18th,  Mr.  Snmncr  took  the  floor 
and  reviewed  the  whole  debate.  Other  speeches  by  him  arc  omitted. 
This  is  given  at  length,  as  opening  the  main  points  of  controversy,  and 
especially  the  principles  involved. 

MR.  PRESIDENT,  — As  Chairman  of  the  Commit 
tee  whose  Report  and  Resolutions  are  now  under 
consideration,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  review  and  to 
close  this  debate.     The  reapers  have  been  many,  and 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  489 

the  sickles  keen ;  but  the  field  is  ample,  and  the  harvest 
abundant ;  so  that,  even  at  this  late  period,  I  may  hope 
to  be  no  superfluous  gleaner. 

Before  entering  upon  our  labor,  let  us  refresh  our 
selves  by  the  contemplation  of  the  unquestioned  good 
accruing  from  these  protracted  meetings.  All  will  feel 
how  well  it  is  for  our  Society  that  its  attention  is  at 
last  turned  in  upon  itself,  and  that  it  is  led  to  that 
self-examination  enjoined  upon  every  good  man,  with 
a  view  to  future  usefulness.  All,  too,  will  feel,  what 
ever  may  be  the  immediate  vote  on  the  question  before 
us,  that  this  discussion  has  excited  an  unwonted  interest 
in  behalf  of  those  who  are  in  prison,  and  that  under  its 
influences  a  sacred  sympathy  has  vibrated  from  heart 
to  heart.  Thus  much  for  the  unquestioned  good. 

Mr.  President,  I  approach  this  discussion  with  regret, 
feeling  that  I  must  say  some  things  which  I  would 
gladly  leave  unsaid.  I  shall  not,  however,  decline  the 
duty  which  is  cast  upon  me.  In  its  performance  I  hope 
to  be  pardoned,  if  I  speak  frankly  and  freely  ;  I  trust  it 
will  be  gently  and  kindly.  I  will  borrow  from  the 
honorable  Treasurer,  with  his  permission,  something  of 
his  frankness,  without  his  temper.  As  I  propose  to 
adduce  facts,  I  shall  be  grateful  to  any  gentleman  who 
will  correct  me  where  I  seem  to  be  wrong.  For  such 
a  purpose  I  will  cheerfully  yield  the  floor,  even  to  the 
Treasurer,  though  his  sense  of  justice  did  not  suffer 
him,  while  on  the  floor,  to  give  me  an  opportunity  of 
correcting  a  misstatement  he  made  of  what  I  said  on  a 
former  occasion. 

Let  me  begin  by  a  reference  —  which  I  would  rather 
avoid — to  myself  and  my  personal  relations  to  this 
inquiry.     I  was  brought  up  at  the  feet  of  our  Society. 
21  » 


490  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

My  earliest  recollection  of  anything  like  the  cause  to 
which  it  is  devoted  does  not  extend  beyond  the  period 
of  its  origin.  My  early  partialities  were  in  favor  of  its 
course,  and  of  the  system  of  Prison  Discipline  it  has  ad 
vocated.  I  had  read  its  Eeports,  and  circulated  them  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  felt  grateful  to  their  author. 
Other  studies,  and  some  acquaintance  with  the  elaborate 
labors  by  which  the  science  of  Prison  Discipline  has 
been  advanced  in  Europe,  led  me  first  to  doubt  the  ac 
tion  of  our  Society,  and  finally  to  the  conviction  that 
it  was  not  candid  and  just,  particularly  in  the  treatment 
of  the  Pennsylvania  System.  With  this  impression,  I 
attended  the  anniversary  of  1845,  where  I  listened  to 
what  seemed  a  discreditable  Report  from  the  Board  of 
Managers,  in  which  this  system  was  treated  ignorantly, 
ungenerously,  and  unjustly,  while  the  officer  of  our  Sen 
ciety  whose  duty  it  was  to  read  the  Report,  in  words 
which  fell  from  him  while  reading  it,  seemed  to  im 
peach  the  veracity  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  Penitentiary 
at  Philadelphia.  In  concurrence  with  a  friend  on  my 
right  [  Dr.  HOWE],  I  was  emboldened  to  ask  a  reference 
of  the  Report  to  a  select  committee,  with  power  to  review 
and  modify  it,  and  to  visit  Philadelphia,  in  order  to 
ascertain  on  the  spot  the  true  character  of  the  system 
of  Prison  Discipline  there  practised,  and  to  incorporate 
a  report  of  their  proceedings  in  the  next  Annual  Report  of 
the  Society.  What  I  said  was  of  the  moment  I  spoke 
in  behalf  of  the  absent,  and,  in  a  certain  sense,  as  the 
representative  of  the  unrepresented,  believing  that  gross 
injustice  was  done  to  them  and  to  their  system.  My 
aim  was  to  recall  the  Society  to  that  candor  and  justice 
which  self-respect,  to  say  nothing  of  its  Christian  pro 
fessions,  seemed  to  require. 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  491 

Here  let  me  indulge  in  a  reminiscence.  It  is  the 
custom  to  open  our  meetings  with  prayer.  By  the 
records  of  our  Society  it  appears  that  at  its  earliest 
anniversary,  as  long  ago  as  1826,  this  service  was  per 
formed  by  an  eminent  clergyman,  the  deserved  favorite 
of  his  own  denomination,  and  much  respected  by  all 
others.  This  public  profession  of  interest  in  the  cause 
was  followed  by  other  manifestations  of  it.  He  became 
a  manager  of  our  Society.  Subsequently,  yielding  to  the 
call  of  the  University  at  Providence,  he  left  Boston  and 
became  President  of  that  important  seat  of  learning. 
His  labors  were  not  restricted  to  academic  duties.  By 
his  pen,  and  the  wide  influence  of  his  remarkable  char 
acter,  he  was  felt  in  various  fields  of  labor  throughout 
the  country.  His  interest  in  Prison  Discipline  was 
constant,  and  in  1843  he  was  chosen  President  of  our 
Society.  Placing  him  at  its  head,  we  justly  honored  one 
of  our  earliest  and  most  distinguished  friends.  He  was 
in  the  chair  on  the  anniversary  to  which  I  have  referred. 
His  sense  of  the  injustice  to  the  gentlemen  of  Philadel 
phia  was  great.  As  the  most  authentic  expression  of 
his  opinions  on  that  occasion,  influencing,  as  they  have, 
the  subsequent  proceedings  of  those  who  seek  a  change 
in  the  course  of  our  Society,  I  read  a  letter  from  him, 
written  on  the  evening  of  that  anniversary. 

"  PROVIDENCE,  May  27, 1845. 

"My  DEAR  SUMNER, — I  cannot  resist  the  impulse  to  thank 
you  again  for  your  remarks  this  morning.  I  had  resolved, 
before  you  rose,  to  return  home  and  immediately  resign 
office  in  the  Society ;  for  I  could  not  allow  my  influence, 
though  ever  so  small,  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  (as  it 
seemed  to  me)  vilifying  the  intentions  of  good  and  honorable 
men.  I  cannot  perceive  how  we  can,  with  any  show  of  pro- 


492  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

priety,  use  language,  in  respect  to  absent  gentlemen,  which, 
in  the  ordinary  intercourse  of  society,  would  be  just  cause 
of  irreconcilable  variance.  I  agree  with  you  entirely  as  to 
the  object  of  the  Society.  It  is  to  improve  the  discipline  of 
prisons,  and  it  should  hail,  as  fellow-laborers,  all  who  are 
honestly  engaged  in  the  same  cause.  The  cause  requires 
the  trial  of  various  experiments,  and  our  business  is  to  col 
lect,  in  good  faith,  and  with  catholic  liberality,  the  results 
of  all,  that  so,  by  the  comparison  of  results,  the  best  end 
may  be  attained.  I  thank  you  over  and  over  again  for 
coming  forward  so  nobly  in  defence  of  the  absent,  and  for 
placing  the  object  of  the  Society  on  its  true  basis,  instead  of 
allowing  it  to  be  a  mere  antagonist  to  the  gentlemen  at 
Philadelphia.  In  all  this,  of  course,  I  mean  no  unkindness 
to  any  one.  I  only  feel  that  by  looking  at  an  object  stead 
ily  and  earnestly  in  only  one  light  we  are  all  liable  to  lose 
sight  of  its  wider  relations. 

"  I  am,  so  far  as  I  see,  in  favor  of  the  Auburn  System  ; 
but  I  want  to  know  something  of  all  of  the  systems,  and 
am,  I  tnist,  anxious  to  learn  the  facts.  I  wrote  an  article  in 
the  North  American  Review,  some  time  since,  on  the  subject. 
I  am  inclined  to  the  same  view  still.  But  this  is  no  reason 
why  I  should  disparage  the  labor  of  others. 

"You  seem  interested  in  this  matter,  and  I  feel  rejoiced 
at  it.  I  cannot  but  hope  that  good  will  come  of  it.  Let  me 
suggest  a  few  things,  by  way  of  indication,  that  may  possi- 
bly  be  improved. 

"  1.  Is  it  wise  to  have  our  Annual  Reports  so  far  extempore  ? 
What  we  sanction  should  be  ijm**ima  verba.  Our  character 
as  men  is  involved  in  what  we  hear  and  order  to  be  pub* 
lished. 

"  2.  It  seems  to  me  that  our  expenditure  should  be  used 
with  great  attention  to  results.  The  statistics  which  we 
have  are  important,  but  I  doubt  whether  they  always  bear  so 
closely  on  our  object  as  they  might.  Why  would  it  not  be 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF   PEISON   DISCIPLINE.  493 

desirable  to  investigate  the  great  subject  of  Pauperism,  and 
that  of  Criminal  Law,  which,  together,  do  almost  the  whole 
work  of  filling  our  prisons  ? 

"  3.  Do  the  Executive  Committee  really  take  these  subjects 
in  hand,  and  give  direction  to  the  labors  of  the  Society] 
They  have  a  very  responsible  situation,  and  cannot  discharge 
it  by  simply  auditing  bills.  Can  they  not  be  induced  to  la 
bor  earnestly  in  this  matter  ? 

"  4.  It  seems  that  John  Augustus,  a  poor  man,  has  done 
much.  We  praise  him.  This  is  well.  Can  we  not  take 
means  for  following  his  example1? 

"  These  things  have  occurred  to  me,  and  I  know  that  you 
will  pardon  me  for  suggesting  them.  I  believe  that  there  is 
here  a  field  for  doing  great  good.  When  I  think  of  the  good 
which  Miss  Dix,  alone  and  unaided,  has  done,  I  cannot  but 
believe  that  we  might  do  more.  To  the  gentlemen  of  your 
profession  we  specially  look  for  aid  in  this  matter.  Can 
you  labor  in  any  philanthropic  object  with  better  prospect 
of  success  ]  Excuse  my  freedom.  I  have  no  right  to  set 
you  or  any  one  else  at  work.  I  am  ashamed  to  be  president 
of  a  society  for  which  I  do  so  little,  and  will  gladly  remove 
myself  out  of  the  way,  and  have  earnestly  desired  to  do  so. 
I,  however,  hold  myself  ready  to  do  anything  that  may  be 
in  my  power  to  advance  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged, 
"  I  am,  my  dear  Sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"F.WAYLAND. 


The  committee  appointed  under  the  Resolution  exam 
ined  the  Report  of  the  Managers,  and  visited  Philadel 
phia.  A  Report  prepared  by  their  chairman,  Dr.  Howe, 
was  made  a  Minority  Report  by  the  votes  of  the  Treas 
urer  and  Secretary,  officers  of  the  Society,  and  both  of 
them,  as  appears  from  the  records,  involved  in  the  au 
thorship  of  the  original  Report  which  gave  occasion  to 
the  inquiry,  and  therefore,  it  would  seem,  in  the  light 


494  RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

of  propriety,  if  not  of  parliamentary  rules,  hardly  com 
petent  to  sit  on  the  committee.  It  was  next  proposed 
that  the  Report,  although  by  a  minority,  should,  in  pur 
suance  of  the  instruction  in  the  original  Resolution,  "  be 
incorporated  in  the  next  Annual  Report."  This,  it  ap 
pears  from  the  records,  was  submitted  to  the  Board  of 
Managers,  May  7,  1846,  where  it  was  opposed  by  the 
Treasurer.  On  May  21st  it  was  referred  to  a  meeting 
of  the  whole  Society,  convened  at  the  dwelling-house  of 
the  Secretary :  for  our  association  dilates  at  times  to 
dimensions  ample  as  this  large  audience,  and  then  again 
shrinks,  if  need  be,  to  the  narrow  space  occupied  by  its 
Secretary.  At  this  meeting,  on  motion  of  the  Treas 
urer,  still  another  impediment  was  thrown  in  the  way 
of  printing  the  Report,  in  pursuance  of  the  original  Reso 
lution.  At  the  business  meeting  of  the  Society,  May 
25th,  on  the  day  preceding  the  anniversary,  I  made  still 
another  ineffectual  attempt  to  have  this  Report  appear 
among  the  transactions  of  the  Society.  This  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  Resolution,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Wil 
lis,  a  near  connection  of  the  Secretary,  as  follows  :  — 

"  Voted,  That  it  is  not  expedient  to  discuss  the  subject  at 
the  anniversary  meeting." 

It  was  at  the  anniversary  meeting,  however,  that  I  was 
determined  to" discuss  the  subject,  being  assured,  that,  in 
the  presence  of  a  wakeful  public,  the  will  of  one  or  two 
individuals  could  not  control  the  course  of  the  Society. 
Accordingly  I  took  the  floor  and  proceeded  to  speak, 
when  I  was  strangely  encountered  by  the  Secretary, 
who  ejaculated :  "  Mr.  President,  the  annual  meeting  was 
interrupted  in  this  manner  last  year;  there  are  gentle 
men  present  who  are  invited  by  the  Committee  of  Ar 
rangements  to  address  us."  On  this  remarkable  frag- 


RIVAL-   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  495 

ment  of  a  speech  I  made  no  comment  at  the  time.  I 
shall  make  none  now  ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  quoting  the 
words  of  the  able  editor  of  the  Law  Reporter  with  re 
gard  to  it.  "  It  would  seem,"  he  says,  "  that  the  ad 
dresses  at  the  public  meetings  of  this  Society  are  all  cut 
and  dried  beforehand,  made  to  order,  —  a  fact  that  might 
as  well  have  been  kept  back,  under  the  circumstances, 
for  the  credit  of  all  concerned." 1  Notwithstanding  this 
interference,  I  proceeded  to  expose  the  prejudiced  and 
partisan  course  of  the  Society,  and  its  consequent  loss 
of  credit,  concluding  with  a  motion  for  a  committee  to 
consider  its  past  conduct,  and  the  best  means  of  extend 
ing  its  usefulness.  The  motion,  though  opposed  at  the 
time,  was  adopted.  It  is  the  Report  of  that  committee 
which  is  now  before  you. 

This  Report,  when  offered  to  the  Society,  was  first  op 
posed  on  grounds  of  form.  It  is  now  opposed  on  other 
grounds,  hardly  more  pertinent,  though  not  of  form  only. 
Thus  at  every  step  have  honest  efforts  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  Society,  and  to  extend  its  usefulness, 
been  encountered  by  opposition.  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  Treasurer  and  Secretary,  the  Society  shrinks  from 
examination  and  inquiry.  Like  the  sensitive  leaf,  it 
closes  at  the  touch.  Nay,  more  :  it  repels  all  endeavor 
to  wake  it  to  new  life.  It  seems  to  have  adopted,  as 
its  guardian  motto,  that  remarkable  epitaph  which  for 
more  than  two  centuries  has  preserved  from  examina 
tion  and  intrusion  the  sacred  remains  of  the  greatest 
master  of  our  tongue:  — 

"  Good  friend,  for  Jesus'  sake,  forbear 
To  dig  the  dust  enclosed  here ! 
Blest  be  the  man  that  spares  these  stones, 
And  curst  be  he  that  moves  my  bones !  " 

1  Low  Reporter,  July,  1848,  Vol.  IX.  p.  99. 


496  RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

The  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society  is  not  William 
Shakespeare  ;  nor  is  it  yet  dead.  But  the  maledictions 
of  the  epitaph  have  fallen  upon  those  of  us  undertaking 
to  "  move  its  bones." 

The  Treasurer  has  impeached  our  motives.  Sir,  I 
impeach  no  man's  motives ;  but  I  do  submit,  that,  if 
the  motives  of  any  person  are  drawn  in  question,  it  can 
not  be  those  of  gentlemen  originating  this  inquiry,  but 
rather  of  those  few  whose  pride  of  opinion  is  inter 
twined  with  the  whole  course  of  the  Society.  Again, 
it  is  said  that  we  are  "  intruders."  That  was  the  word. 
Is  your  predecessor,  Sir,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wayland,  who  is 
one  of  the  authors  of  the  report,  an  intruder  ?  Are  the 
gentlemen  sustaining  the  Report  in  this  debate  intrud 
ers  ?  Are  we  not  all  members  of  this  Society,  and  as 
such  bound  to  exertion,  according  to  our  abilities,  in 
carrying  forward  its  objects  ?  Who  shall  call  us  in 
truders  ?  Sir,  I  apply  this  term  to  no  man,  and  to  no 
set  of  men ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  saying,  that,  if  its  in 
jurious  suggestion  be  applicable  to  anybody,  it  cannot 
be  to  those  honestly  striving  to  elevate  the  character 
of  the  Society,  and  to  extend  its  usefulness,  but  rather 
to  those  who  meet  these  efforts  with  constant  opposi 
tion,  and  declare,  as  has  been  done  in  this  debate,  that 
"  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Society  to  act  by  one  man  only." 
It  is  also  insinuated  that  one  of  the  gentlemen  support 
ing  the  Report,  a  valued  friend  of  mine,  has  shown  undue 
confidence  in  his  own  opinions :  I  do  not  remember  the 
word  employed.  Sir,  his  modest  character  and  services, 
which  have  been  gratefully  recognized  in  both  hemi 
spheres,  and  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  subject, 
entitle  him  to  speak  with  firmness.  I  do  not  charge 
the  gentleman  who  dealt  this  insinuation  with  vanity 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  497 

or  self-esteem,  though  it  did  seem  to  me  that  it  came 
with  ill  grace  from  one  who  in  the  course  of  a  short 
speech  contrived  to  announce  himself  as  Treasurer  of 
the  Boston  Prison  Discipline  Society,  next  as  Treasurer 
of  Harvard  College,  and,  not  content  with  this,  told  us 
that  he  had  once  been  a  member  of  the  City  Govern 
ment,  and  a  Senator  of  the  Commonwealth  !  I  will  not 
follow  these  personalities  further.  I  allude  to  them  with 
regret.  They  are  a  part  of  the  poisoned  ingredients  — 
"  eye  of  newt  and  toe  of  frog "  —  which  the  Treasurer 
has  dropped  into  the  caldron  of  this  debate. 

I  now  pass  to  the  question.  The  Report  and  the  ac 
companying  Resolutions  present  three  principal  points : 
first,  the  duty  and  pledge  on  our  part  of  candor  and  im 
partiality  between  the  different  systems  of  Prison  Disci 
pline  ;  secondly,  the  duty  of  offering  some  expression  of 
regret  to  our  brethren  in  Philadelphia  on  account  of  the 
past ;  thirdly,  the  duty  of  our  officers  to  make  increased 
exertions,  particularly  by  enlisting  the  cooperation  of 
individual  members. 

To  these  several  propositions  we  have  had  various 
replies,  occupying  no  inconsiderable  time.  We  have  lis 
tened  to  the  humane  sentiments  of  my  friend  on  the  left 
[Dr.  WALTER  CHANNIXG],  to  the  inappropriate  twice- 
told  statistics  of  my  other  friend  [Mr.  F.  C.  GRAY],  to 
the  labored  argument  of  my  professional  brother  [Mr. 
BRADFORD  SUMNER],  to  the  two  addresses  of  the  rever 
end  gentleman  from  Worcester  [Rev.  GEORGE  ALLEN]. 
Let  me  say,  that  I  have  many  sympathies  with  this 
gentleman.  OWith  admiration  and  delight  I  have  re 
cently  read  aproduc^ion  of  his,  entitled  " Resistance  to 
Slavery  Every  Man's  Duty."  Here  his  own  powers  an- 

~-  FF 


498  RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

swered  to  the  grandeur  of  his  causa  If  he  has  failed 
in  the  present  debate,  it  cannot  be  from  lack  of  ability 
or  from  shortness  of  time.  Lastly,  we  have  been  made 
partakers  of  that  singular  utterance  from  our  Treasurer, 
which  abounded  so  largely  in  the  excellence  that  Byron 
found  in  Mitford,  the  historian  of  Greece,  and  which  he 
said  should  characterize  all  good  historians,  —  "wrath 
and  partiality." 

It  is  my  purpose  to  consider  and  sustain  the  positions 
of  the  Report  and  Resolutions,  and,  in  the  course  of  my 
remarks,  to  repel  the  objections  raised  against  them. 
In  doing  this,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  the  topics  which 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  Committee.  This  will  lead 
me  to  put  aside  one  suggestion,  of  an  irrelevant  char 
acter,  introduced  into  this  debate  by  a  friend  not  of  the 
Committee :  I  refer  to  the  charge  of  Sectarianism.  This 
did  not  enter  into  the  deliberations  of  the  Committee, 
and  formed  no  part  of  the  Report.  If  there  bo  in  the 
past  course  of  the  Society  any  ground  for  this  charge,  — 
and  on  this  I  express  no  opinion,  —  it  will  doubtless 
find  a  corrective  in  what  has  been  said  here.  As  I  do 
not  ask  your  acceptance  of  the  Report  and  Resolutions 
on  this  ground,  so  I  appeal  to  your  candor  in  their 
behalf  irrespectively  of  any  considerations  arising  from 
the  introduction  of  this  topic. 


I. 

THE  first  point  for  consideration  is  the  duty  and 
pledge  on  our  part  of  candor  and  impartiality  between 
the  different  systems  of  Prison  Discipline.  Here  I 
might,  perhaps,  content  myself  with  a  bare  enumeration 
of  these  systems,  and  ask  the  Society  if  they  are  so 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  499 

fully  convinced  with  regard  to  the  comparative  merits 
of  each  as  to  embrace  one,  and  to  reject/ absolutely, 
all  the  others.  For  instance,  I  mention  four  different 
systems.  First,  that  of  Pennsylvania,  so  much  discussed, 
the  principal  feature  of  which  is  separation  of  prisoners 
from  each  other  both  by  day  and  night,  with  labor  in 
cells.  Secondly,  that  of  Auburn,  where  the  prisoners  are 
in  separate  cells  by  night,  but  labor  in  common  work 
shops,  in  enforced  silence,  by  day.  Thirdly,  a  system 
compounded  of  these  two,  according  to  which  certain 
prisoners  are  treated  as  at  Auburn,  and  certain  others 
as  in  Pennsylvania,  —  sometimes  called  the  Mixed  Sys 
tem,  and  sometimes  that  of  Lausanne,  from  the  circum 
stance  that  here,  in  Switzerland,  —  interesting  to  us  as 
the  place  where  Gibbon  wrote  his  great  history,  —  there 
is  a  prison  of  this  character.  Fourthly,  there  is  still 
another  system,  —  or,  perhaps,  absence  of  system, — 
which  is  followed  at  Munich,  and  is  called  after  Ober- 
maier,  the  benevolent  head  of  the  prison  in  that  place, 
who  has  rejected  the  separate  cell  of  Pennsylvania  by 
day,  and  also  the  corporal  punishment  and  enforced 
silence  of  Auburn.  Our  own  prison  at  Charlestown, 
also  marked  by  absence  of  system,  seems  to  me  not 
unlike  that  of  Obermaier.  A  similar  benevolence  ema 
nates  from  the  head  of  each  of  these  institutions. 

In  each  and  all  of  these  systems  there  is,  doubtless, 
much  that  we  should  hesitate  to  condemn,  and  which  it 
becomes  us,  as  honest  inquirers,  to  examine  carefully 
and  seek  to  comprehend.  Calling  upon  our  Society  for 
a  pledge  of  candor  and  impartiality,  it  will  not  be  dis 
guised  that  there  are  special  reasons  from  its  past  course. 
Properly  to  appreciate  this  course,  and  to  understand 
the  unfortunate  position  of  ungenerous  antagonism  to 


500  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

the  Pennsylvania  System  which  we  now  occupy,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  consider  the  origin  and  true  character 
of  that  system.  This  will  lead  to  some  minuteness  of 
historical  detail. 

Turning  our  eyes  to  the  condition  of  prisons  during  the 
last  century,  we  perceive  that  scarcely  a  single  ray  of  hu 
manity  had  then  penetrated  their  dreary  confines.  Idle 
ness,  debauchery,  blasphemy,  brutality,  squalor,  disease, 
wretchedness,  mingled  in  them  as  in  a  hateful  sty. 
All  the  unfortunate  children  of  crime,  the  hardened 
felon,  whose  soul  was  blotted  by  continual  guilt,  and  the 
youthful  victim,  who  had  just  yielded  to  temptation, 
but  whose  countenance  still  mantled  with  the  blush  of 
virtue,  and  whose  soul  had  not  lost  all  its  original 
brightness,  were  crowded  together,  without  separation 
or  classification,  in  one  promiscuous,  fermenting  mass 
of  wickedness,  with  scanty  food  and  raiment,  with  few 
or  no  means  of  cleanliness,  a  miserable  prey  to  the 
contagion  of  disease,  and  the  worse  contagion  of  vice 
and  sin.  The  abject  social  degradation  of  the  ancient 
Britons,  in  the  picture  drawn  by  Julius  Caesar,  excites 
our  wonder  to  a  less  degree  than  the  well-authenticated 
condition  of  the  poor  prisoners  in  the  polished  annals  of 
George  the  Third. 

Of  all  the  circumstances  which  conspired  to  produce 
this  wretchedness,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  pro 
miscuous  commingling  of  the  prisoners  in  one  animal 
herd  was  the  most  to  be  deplored.  This  evil  arrested 
general  attention.  In  France  it  enkindled  the  burning 
eloquence  of  Mirabeau,  as  in  England  it  inspired  the 
heavenly  charity  of  Howard.  It  was  felt  not  cnly  in 
Europe,  but  here  in  our  own  country.  Nay,  it  still 


KIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF   PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  501 

continues,  the  scandal  of  this  age  and  place,  in  the  pres 
ent  jail  of  Boston  ! 

In  the  effort  to  escape  from  this  evil,  persons  with 
best  intentions,  but  by  a  not  unnatural  error,  rushed  to 
the  opposite  extreme.  It  was  proposed  to  separate  pris 
oners  from  each  other  by  a  system  of  absolute  solitude, 
without  labor,  books,  or  solace  of  any  kind.  This  was 
actually  done  in  Maine,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Vir 
ginia,  and  Pennsylvania.  Without  referring  particularly 
to  other  States,  I  ask  you  to  follow  the  course  of  things 
in  Pennsylvania.  In  1818  a  law  was  passed  author 
izing  the  building  of  a  penitentiary  at  Pittsburg  "  on 
the  principle  of  solitary  confinement  of  the  convicts," 
and  "  provided  always  that  the  principle  of  the  solitary 
confinement  of  the  prisoners  be  preserved  and  main 
tained."  In  1821  another  law  was  passed  authorizing 
the  same  at  Philadelphia.  Both  of  these  prisons  were 
conceived  in  a  system  of  solitude  without  labor. 

As  such,  they  were  justly  obnoxious  to  criticism  and 
censure.  Thanks  to  the  good  men  who  interfered  to 
arrest  this  design !  Thanks  to  our  Secretary,  whose 
early  energies  were  rightly  directed  to  this  end !  The 
soul  shrinks  with  horror  from  the  cell  of  constant  and 
unoccupied  solitude,  as  repugnant  to  unceasing  yearn 
ings  in  the  nature  of  man.  The  "  leads  "  of  Venice,  the 
cruel  cages  of  state  prisoners,  inspire  us  with  indig 
nation  against  that  heartless  republic.  The  terrors  of 
the  Bastile,  whether  revealed  in  the  pictured  page  of 
Victor  Hugo,  or  in  the  grave  descriptions  of  dungeons 
where  toads  and  rats  made  their  home,  contain  nothing 
to  fill  us  with  such  dread  as  the  unbroken  solitude 
which  was  the  lot  of  many  of  its  victims.  Lafayette 
—  whose  own  experience  at  Olmiitz  should  not  be  for- 


502  BIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

gotten  —  has  furnished  his  testimony  of  its  melancholy 
influence,  as  apparent  in  the  condition  of  those  who  sud 
denly  came  forth,  on  the  morning  which  dawned  upon 
the  destruction  of  that  gloomy  prison.  Almost  in  our 
own  time  their  sufferings  have  been  revived  in  the 
Austrian  dungeons  of  Spielberg  ;  and  Silvio  Pellico  has 
left  to  the  literature  of  mankind  the  record  of  horrors 
filling  the  perpetual  solitude  of  his  cell,  which  he  vainly 
strove  to  relieve  by  crying  out  to  the  iron  bars  of  his 
window,  to  the  hills  in  the  distance,  and  to  the  birds 
which  sported  with  freedom  in  the  air. 

A  system  of  absolute  solitude  excludes  every  rational 
idea  of  health,  improvement,  or  reformation.  It  is  an 
engine  of  cruelty  and  tyranny  kindred  to  the  iron 
boot,  the  thumb-screw,  the  iron  glove,  and  other  terrible 
instruments  of  a  vengeance-loving  government.  It  hard 
ens,  abases,  or  overthrows  the  intellect  and  character. 
Such  a  punishment  is  justly  rejected  in  a  Christian  age, 
learning  to  temper  justice  with  mercy,  and  to  regard  the 
reformation  of  the  offender  among  its  essential  aims. 

Under  the  pressure  of  these  arguments,  in  those 
States  where  this  system  had  been  adopted  the  subject 
was  reconsidered.  The  discussion  was  affected  materi 
ally  by  the  opinions  of  two  remarkable  men,  —  William 
Roscoe,  and  Lafayette.  The  former  is  cherished  as  the 
elegant  historian  of  Lorenzo  de'  Medici  and  Leo  X.; 
though,  perhaps,  he  should  be  more  justly  dear  for  those 
labors  which  crowned  the  close  of  his  life,  in  the  fields 
of  humanity.  Lafayette  —  on  his  visit,  in  1825,  to  the 
country  which  had  been  the  scene  of  his  youthful  devo 
tion  —  was  induced,  by  a  letter  from  Roscoe,  to  interest 
himself  in  Prison  Discipline.  He  did  not  surrender 
himself  merely  to  the  blandishments  of  that  unparal- 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  503 

leled  triumph,  —  a  more  than  royal  progress,  forming 
one  of  the  most  touching  incidents  in  history,  —  when 
in  advanced  years  he  received  the  gratitude  of  the  giant 
republic  whose  feeble  infancy  he  had  helped  to  cra 
dle  and  protect.  From  his  correspondence  it  appears 
that  he  strove,  by  conversation  in  Maine,  New  Hamp 
shire,  New  York,  and  particularly  in  Pennsylvania,  to 
influence  public  opinion  on  the  subject  of  Prisons,  and 
most  especially  against  the  system  of  solitary  confine 
ment,  which  he  justly  likened  to  the  Bastile.  His  own 
opinions,  and  those  of  Roscoe,  were  widely  circulated, 
and  were  quoted  in  official  documents.  Their  precise 
influence  it  is  impossible  to  calculate.  The  system  so 
abhorrent  to  our  feelings,  after  brief  experiment,  was 
discarded  in  those  States  where  it  had  been  in  opera 
tion  ;  and  in  New  York,  that  of  Auburn,  consisting  of 
solitude  by  night  with  labor  in  common  by  day,  was 
confirmed,  to  the  great  joy  of  Roscoe,  who  feared  that  it 
might  yield  to  that  of  absolute  solitude,  which  had  been 
tried  there  in  1822. 

In  Pennsylvania  this  important  change  took  place 
previously  to  the  occupation  of  the  new  penitentiary  at 
Philadelphia.  By  a  law  bearing  date  April  23,  1829,  it 
was  expressly  provided,  that,  after  July  1,  1829,  con 
victs  should,  "  instead  of  the  penitentiary  punishments 
heretofore  prescribed,  be  sentenced  to  suffer  punishment 
by  SEPARATE  or  solitary  confinement  at  LABOR."  It  is 
further  provided,  that  the  warden  "  shall  visit  every  cell 
and  apartment,  and  see  every  prisoner  under  his  care,  at 
least  once  in  every  day,"  —  that  the  overseers  shall  "  in 
spect  the  condition  of  each  prisoner  at  least  three  times 
in  every  day,"  —  that  "  the  physician  shall  visit  every 
prisoner  in  the  prison  twice  in  every  week  "  ;  and  further 


504  RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

provision  is  made  for  "  visitors,"  among  whom  are  "  the 
acting  committee  of  the  Philadelphia  Society  for  the 
Alleviation  of  the  Miseries  of  Public  Prisons."  Here 
is  the  first  legislative  declaration  of  what  has  since 
been  called,  at  home  and  abroad,  the  Pennsylvania  Sys 
tem.  As  administered  there  and  elsewhere,  it  is  found 
to  have,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  the  following  ele 
ments  :  1.  Separation  of  the  prisoners  from  each  othei ; 
2.  Labor  in  the  cell ;  3.  Exercise  in  the  open  air ;  4.  Vis 
its  ;  5.  Books ;  6.  Moral  and  religious  instruction.  Its 
fundamental  doctrine,  and  only  essential  element,  is  sep 
aration  of  prisoners  from  each  other,  on  which  may  be 
ingrafted  solace  of  any  kind  needful  to  health  of  body 
or  mind.  In  1840,  M.  de  Tocqueville,  in  his  masterly 
report  to  the  French  Chamber  of  Deputies,  recommend 
ing  the  adoption  of  this  systen?  throughout  France,  ac 
corded  to  it  these  characteristics 

In  the  history  of  this  system,  its  origin  is  often 
referred  to  different  places.  It  is  sometimes  said  to 
have  been  first  recognized  at  Rome  by  Clement  XI.,  as 
long  ago  as  1703,  in  the  foundation  of  a  House  of  Kef- 
uge ;  and  again  it  is  said  to  have  appeared  some  time 
during  the  last  century  in  a  prison  of  Holland,  —  also  in 
one  at  Gloucester,  in  England;  while  it  seems  to  be 
described  with  tolerable  clearness  in  the  preamble  to 
the  fifth  section  of  an  Act  of  Parliament  drawn  by 
Howard,  in  conjunction  with  Sir  William  Blackstone,  as 
early  as  1779.  Whatever  may  be  the  claims  of  these 
different  places,  it  is  now  admitted  that  this  system  was 
first  reduced  to  permanent  practice,  on  an  extended  scale, 
in  Pennsylvania,  Indeed,  this  State  is  hardly  more 
known  in  Europe  for  shameful  neglect  to  pay  the  inter 
est  of  her  public  debt  than  for  her  admired  system  of 
Prison 


EIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  505 

Now,  waiving  for  the  present,  as  entirely  irrelevant, 
the  question  whether  this  system  can  be  practically  ad 
ministered  so  as  to  be  consistent  with  health,  all  must 
admit  that  it  is  not  the  constant,  unoccupied,  cheerless 
solitude  of  the  Bastile.  Its  main  object  is  not  solitude, 
but  separation  of  prisoners  from  each  other,  and  bring 
ing  them  under  good  influences  only. 

In  considering  the  Pennsylvania  or  Separate  System, 
as  now  explained,  several  questions  properly  arise. 

1.  Shall  it  be  applied  before  trial  ?     Here  the  answer 
is  prompt.     It  is  the  right  of  every  person  whom  the 
law  presumes  innocent,  as  is  the  case  with  all  before 
trial,  to  be  kept  free  from  the  touch  or  contamination 
of  those  who  may  be  felons.     I  well  remember  the  in 
dignation  of  the  late  William  Ellery  Channing  at  an 
incident  which  occurred  in  our  streets,  where  a  stranger 
who  had  fallen  under  suspicion,  but  who  proved  to  be  in 
nocent,  was  marched  from  the  jail  handcuffed,  in  company 
with  a  hardened  offender.     He  held  it  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  prevent  such  outrage.     The  principle  of  justice 
and  humanity  which  led  him  to  his  conclusion  in  this 
case  requires  the  absolute  separation  of  all  prisoners  be 
fore  trial. 

2.  A  more  perplexing  problem  arises  with  regard  to 
convicts  for  short  terms.      Here,  it  would  seem,  the 
principle  of  absolute  reparation  ought  to  prevail. 

3.  It  is   a   question  of  greater  doubt  how  to  treat 
juvenile  offenders.      When  we  observe  the  admirable 
success  of  the  House  of  Reformation  at  South  Boston, 
and  of  the  Penal  Colony  at  Mettray,  in  France,  both 
conducted  on  the  social  principle,  we  may  well  hesitate  ; 
though,  on  the  other  hand,  the  marked  success  of  the 
institution  of  La  Roquette,  at  Paris,  under  peculiar  dif- 

VOL.    I.  22 


506  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

ficulties,  shows  that  the  principle  of  absolute  separation 
may  be  applied  even  to  this  class  of  offenders.  Here 
certainly  is  a  question  worthy  of  consideration. 

4.  Shall  the  Separate  System  be  applied  in  any  case 
to  women  ?    The  authority  of  Mrs.  Fry,  in  England, 
who  at  first  disapproved  the  system,  but  at  the  close 
of  her  valuable  life  approved  it,  even  for  her  own  sex, 
also  that  of  Mademoiselle  Josephine  Mallet,  in  France, 
who  has  declared  herself  warmly  for  this  system,  entitle 
this  question  to  careful  attention. 

5.  And,  lastly,  shall  the  Separate  System  be  applied 
to  convicts  for  long  terms  ?    This  is,  indeed,  the  crucial 
question,  involving  statistics  of  health  and  insanity,  and 
many  other  considerations,  on  which  much  light  is  shed 
by  the  experience  of  Europe,  as  well  as  our  own  coun 
try,  and  also  by  writings  of  eminent  characters  devoted 
to  this  subject.     Here  we  may  well  hesitate,  and  open 
our  minds  to  influences  from  all  quarters. 

The  way  is  now  prepared  to  consider  whether  our 
Society,  in  unfolding  what  may  be  called  the  science  of 
Prison  Discipline,  has  treated  the  Pennsylvania  System, 
involving  the  several  questions  already  stated,  with  can 
dor  and  justice.  The  question  is  not  whether  this  sys 
tem  is  preferable  in  all  cases  to  every  other,  or  whether 
there  is  any  other  preferable  to  this,  but  simply,  Has 
our  Society  been  candid  and  just  ?  An  examination  of 
its  course  furnishes  an  easy  answer. 

It  appears  that  our  Society  has  failed  to  make  any 
discrimination  with  regard  to  the  different  classes  of 
cases  which  I  have  set  forth,  indulging  in  one  constant, 
sullen,  undistinguishing,  uncompromising  opposition  to 
the  system  in  all  cases,  —  so  much  so  as  to  give  occasion 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  507 

for  an  eminent  foreign  writer  to  say  that  it  had  sworn 
against  it  "  war  to  the  knife."  Early  in  its  existence  it 
gave  its  adhesion. to  the  Auburn  Prison,  saying,  "Here, 
then,  is  exhibited  what  Europe  and  America  have  been 
long  waiting  to  see,  —  a  prison  which  may  be  made  a 
model  for  imitation."  This  adhesion  was  confirmed  by 
the  declaration  of  an  officer  of  our  Society,  at  a  public 
anniversary  in  1837,  that  the  System  of  Auburn  was 
"  our  system,"  and  still  more  by  a  resolution  of  sim 
ilar  effect  offered  in  1838  by  the  Treasurer,  who  now 
opposes,  not  unnaturally,  the  efforts  to  release  the  Soci 
ety  from  the  bands  he  helped  to  tie. 

I  do  not  found  complaint  merely  on  the  character  of 
advocacy  which  our  Reports  have  assumed,  though  it  were 
well  worthy  of  inquiry  whether  this  is  not  improper 
in  an  association  like  ours.  I  go  further.  I  wish  to 
state  distinctly,  that,  in  the  zeal  of  devotion  to  Auburn, 
and  in  the  frenzy  of  hostility  to  Pennsylvania,  we  have 
been  betrayed  into  a  course  which  no  candid  mind  can 
hesitate  to  regret.  I  will  not  dwell  on  language  that 
fell  from  our  Secretary  at  the  anniversary  of  1845, 
which  was  in  part  the  occasion  of  the  letter  from  Pres 
ident  Wayland  already  read ;  nor  am  I  able  to  review 
all  our  Reports.  One  will  be  enough.  I  confine  myself 
to  the  Eighteenth  Report,  which  appeared  in  1843. 

This  Report  has  already  been  the  subject  of  much  re 
mark  here  and  elsewhere.  A  French  writer  of  authority, 
M.  Moreau-Christophe,  Inspector-General  of  Prisons  in 
France,  has  characterized  it  as  "  a  perversion  of  truth  "  ; 1 
while  an  English  author  has  spoken  of  it  in  stronger 
terms.  "With  the  nature  of  framing  recurring  docu 
ments  connected  with  public  institutions  we  are  not  un- 

l  Revue  Pe"nitentiare,  1844,  p.  421. 


508  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

acquainted,"  says  Mr.  Adshead,  "  and  we  believe  a  more 
flagrant  instance  of  trickery  has  never  come  unthin  tlw 
ftMgv  qf  our  experience  " l  I  am  unwilling  to  adopt  this 
language ;  but  I  cannot  forbear  terming  the  lieport  uncan- 
did  and  unjust.  This  I  shall  show ;  and  I  am  especially 
moved  to  do  so,  since  the  Treasurer  has  undertaken  to 
vindicate  it,  and  to  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  its  quota 
tions.  I  shall  consider  it  under  six  different  heads. 

First.  It  adduces  against  the  Pennsylvania  System 
the  failure  of  experiments  in  Maine,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  Virginia,  on  the  principle  of  absolute  solitude 
witliout  labor,  which,  of  course,  were  entirely  inapplica 
ble  in  the  discussion  of  a  system  recognizing  labor  and 
many  other  solaces  as  essential  parts  of  the  system. 
"Was  this  candid  ?  Was  it  just  ? 

Secondly.  Here  is  a  more  pungent  instance,  though 
not  more  objectionable.  The  Report  adduces  the  au 
thority  of  Mr.  George  Combe  against  "  the  Pennsylvania 
System."  The  article  or  chapter  on  this  point  is  enti 
tled,  in  capitals,  "  DR.  [MR.]  COMBE'S  OPINION  OF  THE 
PENNSYLVANIA  SYSTEM."  Under  this  head  are  extracts 
from  his  book  of  travels  in  America,  where  this  eminent 
phrenological  observer  considers  the  character  of  this 
system.  But  will  the  Society  believe  that  one  at  least 
of  these  extracts  is  garbled,  so  as  not  to  express  his 
true  and  full  opinion  of  the  system  ?  The  Eighteenth 
Report  quotes  from  Combe  as  follows :  — 

"  The  Auburn  system  of  social  labor  is  better,  in  my  opin 
ion,  than  that  of  Pennsylvania,  in  so  far  as  it  allows  of  a 
little  more  stimulus  to  the  social  faculties,  and  docs  not 
weaken  the  nervous  system  to  so  great  an  extent."* 

1  Prison*  and  Prisoners,  p.  128. 

*  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  p.  £6. 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  509 

The  sentence  in  Combe  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  The  Auburn  system  of  social  labor  is  better,  in  my  opin 
ion,  than  that  of  Pennsylvania,  in  so  far  as  it  allows  of  a 
little  more  stimulus  to  the  social  faculties,  and  does  not 
weaken  the  nervous  system  to  so  great  an  extent ;  but  it  IMS 
no  superiority  in  regard  to  providing  efficient  means  for  invig 
orating  and  training  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties."  l 

Thus  does  our  Report,  while  pretending  to  give  Combe's 
"  Opinion  of  the  Pennsylvania  System,"  stop  at  a  semi 
colon,  and  omit  the  latter  branch  of  a  sentence,  where 
the  opinion  is  favorable  to  the  system.  And  yet  the 
Treasurer  vouches  for  the  accuracy  of  this  quotation. 
"  I  think  I  can  read  English,"  he  says,  "  and  I  think  the 
extract  from  Combe  properly  made." 

Mr.  ELIOT  here  rose  and  said,  "  I  did  not  mean  to 
vouch  for  the  verbal  accuracy  of  the  quotation,  but  that 
it  gave  the  substance  of  Mr.  Combe's  opinion,  which 
was  against  the  Pennsylvania  System." 

Mr.  SUMNER.  The  Treasurer,  then,  relies  upon  Mr. 
Combe's  authority  as  adverse  to  the  Pennsylvania  Sys 
tem.  I  hold  in  my  hand  a  letter  from  that  gentleman, 
dated  Edinburgh,  March  24,  1847,  addressed  to  the  au 
thor  of  the  Minority  Report  to  this  Society  [  Dr.  HOWE], 
since  published  as  an  essay,  and  which  has  been  charac 
terized  in  this  debate  as  an  uncompromising  plea  for 
that  system.  In  this  letter  Mr.  Combe  says :  — 

"  I  have  read  every  word  of  your  Prison  Essay  with  atten 
tion,  and  do  not  perceive  any  difference  of  principle  between 
your  views  and  mine.  Your  Essay  is  a  special  pleading  in 
favor  of  the  Pennsylvania  System ;  but  I  do  not  object  to  it 

1  Notes  on  the  United  States,  Vol.  I.  p.  224. 


510  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

on  this  account.  Such  a  pleading  was  called  for  in  the  cir 
cumstances  mentioned  in  your  preface;  it  was  the  thing 
needed  to  make  an  impression;  and  while  it  states  strongly 
and  eloquently  the  advantages  of  the  Separate  System,  it  does 
not  conceal,  although  it  does  not  dwell  upon,  its  defects." 

And  yet  Mr.  Combe  is  pressed  by  our  Report,  and  now 
by  our  Treasurer,  in  opposition  to  this  system  ;  and  the 
work  is  aided  by  publishing  a  truncated  sentence,  and 
entitling  it  his  opinion. 

Thirdly.  We  have  already  observed  the  timely  oppo 
sition  of  William  Roscoe  to  the  system  of  solitude  with 
out  labor,  which  promised  to  prevail  extensively  in  the 
United  States.  From  his  publication  on  this  subject,  in 
1827,  our  Eighteenth  Report,  in  1843,  draws  forth  a  pas 
sage,  and  entitles  it,  in  capitals,  "  MR.  ROSCOE'S  OPINION 
OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  SYSTEM."  I  will  give  the  whole 
article  or  chapter.  It  is  as  follows. 

"Ms.  ROSCOE'S  OPINION  OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  SYSTEM. 

"  Mr.  Roscoe,  of  Liverpool,  said,  before  the  new  Peniten 
tiary  was  built,  — 

"  'At  Philadelphia,  as  has  before  been  observed,  it  is  in 
tended  to  adopt  the  plan  of  "solitary  confinement  in  all 
cases,"  "  the  duration  of  the  punishment  to  offered,"  and  "  the 
whole  term,  of  the  sentence  to  be  exacted"  except  in  cases  where 
it  shall  be  made  to  appear,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  govern 
or,  that  the  party  convicted  was  innocent  of  the  charge. 

" '  By  the  establishment  of  a  general  system  of  solitary 
confinement,  a  greater  numl>er  of  individuals,  imprisoned  for 
minor  offence*,  will  probably  be  put  to  death,  by  the  superin- 
d- ict ion  of  diseases  inseparable  from  such  a  mode  of  treat 
ment,  than  will  be  executed  through  the  whole  State,  for  the 
perpetration  of  the  moet  atrociou*  crimes ;  with  this  remark- 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF   PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  511 

able  difference,  that  the  law  has  provided  for  the  heinous 
offender  a  brief,  and  perhaps  an  unconscious  fate,  whilst  the 
solitary  victim  passes  through  every  variety  of  misery,  and 
terminates  his  days  by  an  accumulation  of  sufferings  which 
human  nature  can  no  longer  bear'  "  x 

"With  regard  to  this  several  things  are  to  be  observed. 
1.  It  sets  forth,  as  Mr.  Roscoe's  opinion  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  System,  what,  in  fact,  was  not  his  opinion  of  that 
system,  but  of  another  system,  that  of  solitude  without 
labor,  and  was  written  two  years  before  the  Pennsyl 
vania  System  came  into  existence,  —  misapplying  his 
opinion,  and  therefore  misrepresenting  it.  2.  It  with 
holds  or  suppresses  the  date  of  the  extract,  and  the 
source  whence  it  is  drawn.  In  point  of  fact,  it  was  writ 
ten  before  the  new  penitentiary  was  built ;  but  it  is 
nevertheless  entitled  "  Mr.  Roscoe's  Opinion  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  System,"  so  that  the  reader  unfamiliar  with 
the  subject  would  suppose  it  in  reality  his  opinion  of 
that  system.  3.  It  omits  an  important  passage  after 
the  word  "  charge,"  without  any  asterisks  or  other  mark 
denoting  omission,  —  which,  if  printed,  would  have 
shown  conclusively  that  Roscoe's  remarks  did  not  ap 
ply  to  the  existing  Pennsylvania  System,  but  to  a  sys 
tem  of  absolute  solitude,  without  solace  of  any  kind. 
Is  it  not  proper,  then,  to  say  that  this  passage  is  gar 
bled  ?  And  yet  the  Treasurer's  voucher  for  the  accu 
racy  of  the  quotations  extends  to  this  also. 

Fourthly.  The  opinions  of  Lafayette  receive  similar 
treatment  to  those  of  Roscoe ;  though  this  case  is  still 
stronger  against  that  most  discreditable  Eighteenth  Re 
port.  The  article  or  chapter  in  which  this  is  done  is  as 
follows. 

l  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  p.  95. 


512  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

• 

"  GEN.  LAFAYETTE'S  OPINION  OF  THE  PENNSYLVANIA  SYSTEM. 

"'As  to  Philadelphia,'  says  the  General,  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Roscoe,  '  I  had  already,  on  my  visit  of  the  last  year, 
expressed  my  regret  that  the  great  expenses  of  the  new 
Penitentiary .  building  had  been  chiefly  calculated  on  the 
plan  of  solitary  confinement.  This  matter  has  lately  be 
come  an  object  of  discussion  ;  a  copy  of  your  letter,  and 
my  own  observations,  have  been  requested ;  and  as  both 
opinions  are  actuated  by  equally  honest  and  good  feelings, 
as  solitary  confinement  has  never  been  considered  but  with 
a  view  to  reformation,  I  believe  our  ideas  will  have  their 
weight  with  men  who  have  been  discouraged  by  late  failures 
of  success  in  the  reformation  plan.  It  seems  to  me,  two  of 
the  inconveniences  most  complained  of  might  be  obviated, 
in  making  use  of  the  solitary  cells  to  separate  the  prisoners 
at  night,  and  multiplying  the  rooms  of  common  labor,  so  as 
to  reduce  the  number  of  each  room  to  what  it  was  when  the 
population  was  less  dense, — an  arrangement  which  would 
enable  the  managers  to  keep  distinctions  among  the  men  to 
be  reclaimed,  according  to  the  state  of  their  morals,  and  their 
behavior.'  '  In  these  sentiments,'  says  Mr.  Roscoe,  '  I 
have  the  pleasure  most  fully  to  concur ;  and  I  hold  it  to  be 
impossible  to  give  a  more  clear,  correct,  and  impartial  de 
cision  on  the  subject.' 

"  '  The  people  of  Pennsylvania  think,'  said  Lafayette,  '  that 
the  system  of  solitary  confinement  is  a  new  idea,  a  new  dis 
covery.  Not  so  ;  —  it  is  only  the  revival  of  the  system  of 
the  Bastile.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  has  given  to 
the  world  an  example  of  humanity,  and  whose  code  of  phi 
lanthropy  has  been  quoted  and  canvassed  by  all  Europe,  is 
now  about  to  proclaim  to  the  world  the  inefficacy  of  the 
system,  and  to  revive  and  restore  the  cniel  code  of  the  most 
barbarous  and  unenlightened  age.  I  hope  my  friends  of 
Pennsylvania  will  consider  the  effect  this  system  had  on  the 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  513 

poor  prisoners  of  the  Bastile.  I  repaired  to  the  scene,'  said 
he,  '  on  the  second  day  of  the  demolition,  and  found  that  all 
the  prisoners  had  been  deranged  by  their  solitary  confine 
ment,  except  one.  He  had  been  a  prisoner  twenty-five  years, 
and  was  led  forth  during  the  height  of  the  tumultuous  riot 
of  the  people,  whilst  engaged  in  tearing  down  the  building. 
He  looked  around  with  amazement,  for  he  had  seen  nobody 
for  that  space  of  time,  and  before  night  he  was  so  much 
affected,  that  he  became  a  confirmed  maniac,  from  which 
situation  he  has  never  [never  was]  recovered.'"1 

With  regard  to  this,  also,  several  things  are  to  be  ob 
served.  1.  It  invokes  the  authority  of  Lafayette  against 
the  Pennsylvania  System,  and  quotes  as  his  opinion  of 
that  system  words  used  with  regard  to  solitude  without 
labor,  as  in  the  Bastile.  In  fact,  Lafayette  never  con 
demned  what  in  1843  was  known  as  the  Pennsylvania 
System,  nor  ever  expressed  any  opinion  impugning  it  in 
any  degree.  His  family  are  at  this  moment  among  its 
warmest  advocates  in  France.  2.  It  withholds  or  sup 
presses  the  date  of  the  extract,  and  the  source  whence  it 
is  drawn,  and  does  not  in  any  way  disclose  to  the  un 
informed  reader  that  it  was  actually  written  before  the 
origin  of  the  Pennsylvania  System.  3.  The  extract 
purports  to  be  from  a  letter  of  Lafayette  to  Roscoe; 
whereas  this  is  true  only  of  the  first  paragraph.  The 
second  is  from  an  anonymous  letter  from  Paris,  in  the 
"  National  Intelligencer  "  of  November  17,  1826,  where 
the  writer  relates  a  conversation  with  Lafayette  concern 
ing  the  prison  then  building  in  Philadelphia,  in  which  it 
was  proposed  to  introduce  solitude  without  labor.  4.  Af 
ter  the  words  "  unenlightened  age,"  in  the  very  heart 
of  this  extract,  an  important  passage  is  omitted,  —  with- 

1  Eighteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Prison  Discipline  Society,  pp.  95.  06. 
22*  00 


514  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

out  asterisks  or  other  mark  denoting  omission,  —  which, 
if  inserted,  would  have  shown  conclusively  that  La 
fayette's  opinion  was  directed  to  a  system  of  solitude, 
"  without  the  least  employment,  and  without  the  use  of 
books."  May  it  not  be  said  justly,  that  the  opinions  of 
Lafayette  are  misrepresented  and  garbled  ? 

Fifthly.  Here  I  can  only  glance  at  a  matter  to  which 
I  alluded  on  a  former  occasion.  Our  Eighteenth  Report 
sets  forth  at  length  disparaging  pictures  by  Mr.  Dickens 
of  the  Pennsylvania  System,  while  it  makes  no  mention 
of  opinions  by  Captain  Hamilton  (the  accomplished  au 
thor  of  "  Cyril  Thornton "),  Miss  Martineau,  Dr.  Reed, 
Dr.  Matheson,  Dr.  F.  A.  Cox,  Dr.  Hoby,  Captain  Marry- 
at,  Mr.  Buckingham,  and  Mr.  Abdy,  all  of  whom  have 
expressed  themselves  with  more  or  less  distinctness 
in  favor  of  that  system.  Nor  does  it  make  any  allu 
sion  to  authoritative  opinions  by  different  commission 
ers  from  foreign  governments :  as  Crawford,  from  Eng 
land,  in  1834 ;  Demetz  and  Blouet,  from  France,  in  1837 ; 
Pringle,  from  England,  in  1838  ;  Julius,  from  Prussia, 
in  1836 ;  and  Neilson  and  Mondelet,  from  the  Canadian 
government,  in  1836,  —  all  of  whom  reported  emphati 
cally  in  favor  of  the  Pennsylvania  System.  Surely  it 
was  not  candid  and  just  to  neglect  all  that  these  trav 
ellers  and  commissioners  had  reported,  while  bringing 
forward  the  imaginings  of  Mr.  Dickens,  and  unearthing 
dateless  letters  of  Roscoe  and  Lafayette,  to  employ  them 
in  a  cause  for  which  they  were  never  written. 

Sixthly.  Our  Eighteenth  Report  is  open  to  another 
objection,  either  of  gross  ignorance  or  most  uncandid 
withholding  of  information.  It  employs  these  words, 
which  appear  remarkable  when  we  consider  the  actual 
facts :  "  What  will  be  done  in  other  countries  is  evidently 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE  515 

suspended,  in  a  great  degree,  on  the  results  of  more  expe 
rience  in  regard  to  the  effects  of  the  system."  Nothing 
more  is  said  of  what  had  been  done  in  other  countries, 
and  the  reader  is  left  to  infer  that  nothing  had  been 
done.  This  was  in  May,  1 843.  Now  what,  at  that  time, 
had  been  done  in  other  countries  ? 

In  England  the  inspectors  of  public  prisons  had 
made  two  or  more  able  and  extensive  reports  in  favor 
of  the  Separate  System,  where  the  principles  on  which 
it  is  founded  are  developed  with  fulness  and  clearness. 
Parliament  had  passed  a  law  authorizing  the  creation 
of  a  model  prison  on  this  system  at  Pentonville.  This 
had  been  built,  and  also  other  prisons  on  the  same  sys 
tem  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

Mr.  DWIGHT.  Will  the  gentleman  please  to  state  the 
difference  between  the  prisons  at  Philadelphia  and  Pen 
tonville  ? 

Mr.  SUMNER.  With  great  pleasure,  so  far  as  any  ex 
ists.  The  two  are  founded  on  the  same  principle  of 
>•  separation,  though  that  of  Pentonville  is  probably  ad 
ministered  with  less  austerity  than  that  of  Philadelphia. 
They  may  differ  in  degree,  but  not  in  kind. 

I  return  to  a  review  of  what  had  been  done  in  1843, 
when  I  was  interrupted. 

In  France  the  subject  had  undergone  most  thorough 
discussion,  in  journals,  in  pamphlets,  among  professional 
men,  and  in  official  documents.  The  Government  and 
the  highest  authorities  in  state  and  in  medicine  had 
declared  in  favor  of  the  Separate  System.  Their  con 
clusions  were  founded  on  ample  inquiries  by  commis 
sions  visiting  America,  England,  Scotland,  Holland,  Bel- 


516  RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

giura,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Germany,  Prussia,  Spain,  and 
even  Turkey.  In  1836,  Count  Gasparin,  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  wrote  a  circular  informing  the  prefects  of 
the  departments  that  the  Government  had  decided  to 
adopt  exclusively  the  Separate  System  in  the  maisons 
cCarret,  or  what  may  be  called  the  county  jails.  In  1839 
the  grave  question  of  the  influence  of  this  system  on 
health,  bodily  and  mental,  was  submitted  to  the  highest 
living  authority,  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  who  referred 
it  to  a  committee  consisting  of  MM  I'aiiset,  More*,  Vil- 
lerme,  Louis,  and  Esquirol.  Their  report,  drawn  up  by 
the  last  named  distinguished  authority,  expressly  de 
clared  that  "  separate  imprisonment  by  day  and  night, 
with  labor,  and  conversation  with  the  overseers  and  in 
spectors,  does  not  abridge  the  life  of  the  prisoners,  nor 
compromise  their  reason."  This  report  afterwards  re 
ceived  the  sanction  of  the  learned  body  to  which  it  was 
addressed.  In  1840,  M.  R&nusat,  Minister  of  the  In 
terior,  submitted  the  project  of  a  law  for  the  building 
of  prisons  on  the  principle  of  separation.  This  was  sus 
tained  by  a  masterly  report  from  M.  de  Tocqueville,  dat 
ed  June  25,  1840.  It  was  followed  in  1841  by  another 
circular  from  the  Home  Department,  communicating  an 
atlas  of  plans  to  the  departments  as  their  guide  in  build 
ing  prisons.  I  hold  one  of  them  in  my  hand  now. 

Mr.  D WIGHT,  looking  at  the  atlas,  said,  "  The  cells 
here  are  on  a  circumference,  whereas  in  Philadelphia 
they  are  on  radii" 

Mr.  SiMNER.  In  some  of  the  plans  the  cells  are  on 
a  circumference,  and  in  some  on  radii.  Does  this  make 
any  difference  in  the  system  ? 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  517 

I  will  proceed.  In  1843, 17th  April,  Count  Duchatel, 
in  behalf  of  the  Government,  introduced  a  bill  providing 
for  the  extension  of  the  principle  of  separation  to  all 
the  maisons  de  force  throughout  France.  It  was  calcu 
lated  that  this  could  not  be  carried  into  execution  at 
an  expense  less  than  one  hundred  and  seven  millions  of 
francs,  or  nearly  twenty  millions  of  dollars.  At  the  same 
time  it  appeared  that  the  extensive  prison  La  Roquette, 
in  Paris,  had  been  for  several  years  in  most  successful 
operation.  Still  further,  in  1843,  it  was  stated  by  M. 
de  Tocqueville,  that,  since  1838,  thirty  prisons,  contain 
ing  two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty  cells  on  the 
Separate  System,  had  been  built,  or  were  in  an  advanced 
state  of  building,  in  the  departments  of  France.  Yet 
nothing  of  all  this  is  in  our  Report. 

In  Poland,  it  appears  that  a  prison  on  the  Separate 
System  was  commenced  as  long  ago  as  1831,  and  has 
been  in  successful  operation  since  1835,  while  in  1843 
appropriations  were  made  to  build  three  more.  Nothing 
of  this  appears  in  our  Report. 

In  Denmark,  after  an  elaborate  report  from  a  com 
mittee,  a  royal  ordinance  declared,  in  1841,  that  "all 
houses  of  detention  to  be  built  for  the  accused  shall  be 
on  the  Separate  System,  and  that  all  new  constructions 
or  reconstructions  which  the  old  prisons  shall  require 
shall  be  on  this  system,  to  prepare  for  its  general  adop 
tion."  Again,  another  ordinance  followed,  June  25, 1842, 
on  the  report  of  a  commission  that  had  visited  England, 
directing  the  building  of  certain  prisons  on  this  system. 
Our  Report  contains  nothing  of  this. 

Look  at  Norway.  In  1838  a  commission  from  this 
region  was  sent  to  visit  the  principal  prisons  in  England, 
Ireland,  Belgium,  France,  Switzerland,  Germany,  and 


518  KIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

Denmark.  Its  report  was  made  in  1841.  "  Its  unani 
mous  and  absolute  advice  was,  to  demand  the  introduc 
tion  into  the  prisons  of  Norway  of  the  Pennsylvania 
System."  Here  again  our  Report  is  silent. 

In  Sweden,  the  States  General  declared,  in  1841,  that 
the  Separate  System  was  the  most  rational,  and  voted 
1,300,000  florins  for  the  construction  of  new  prisons 
on  this  system.  Already  before  this  time,  the  pres 
ent  King  of  Sweden,  then  Crown  Prince,  had  secured 
a  new  honor  for  his  throne  by  writing  a  book  on  pris 
ons,  where  he  compared  the  Auburn  and  Pennsylvania 
Systems,  and  gave  his  preference  to  the  latter.  Of  this 
our  Report  says  not  a  word. 

Here,  as  I  refer  to  this  royal  author,  let  me  pause  to 
offer  him  my  tribute  of  gratitude.  His  work,  originally 
written  in  Swedish,  has  been  already  twice  translated 
into  German,  twice  into  French,  once  into  Norwegian, 
and  once  into  English.  It  deserves  to  be  translated 
into  every  language  of  the  globe.  Such  words  from  a 
throne  find  no  parallel  in  history.  All  the  productions 
from  the  eighteen  royal  authors  of  England,  and  the  five 
of  Scotland,  mentioned  in  Walpole's  Catalogue,  could  not 
confer  the  same  true  honor  as  these  few  pages.  Not 
the  "  prettie  versse  "  of  Henry  the  Sixth ;  not  the  vol 
ume  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  which  has  secured  to  his 
royal  successors  the  unchangeable  title  of  "Defender 
of  the  Faith  " ;  not  the  "  Counterblast  to  Tobacco,"  and 
other  writings,  teeming  with  pun,  pedantry,  vanity, 
Scripture,  and  prerogative,  of  James  the  First;  not 
the  ballads,  songs,  rondeaus,  and  poems  of  the  four 
Jameses  of  Scotland.  A  work  on  "  Punishments  and 
Prisons  "  by  a  king,  written  in  a  spirit  of  simplicity 
and  gentleness,  with  sympathy  for  the  poor,  the  hum- 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  519 

ble,  the  sinful,  teaches  us  to  appreciate  forms  of  gran 
deur  higher  than  any  in  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  royal 
ambition.  Oscar  is  the  son  of  Bernadotte,  a  marshal  of 
the  French  Empire,  and  elected  king  of  Sweden;  but 
—  pardon  me  while  I  speak  what  my  heart  feels — 
the  author  of  this  little  book  of  humanity  and  wisdom 
inspires  a  warmer  glow  of  admiration  than  the  com 
mander  of  the  centre  in  the  victory  of  Austerlitz,  or  of 
the  timely  succors  that  hurried  the  close  of  the  giant 
struggle  at  Leipzig.  He  sits  on  a  throne  illustrated  by 
two  of  the  greatest  sovereigns  in  modern  Europe ;  but 
his  is  a  truer  glory  than  that  of  Gustavus  Vasa  in  the 
mines  of  Dalecarlia,  or  of  Gustavus  Adolphus  on  the 
field  of  Lutzen. 

In  Holland,  the  penal  code  established  in  1840,  as 
the  basis  of  prison  discipline,  separation  by  night  and 
labor  in  common  by  day.  "  But  they  were  not  slow  to 
recognize  the  insufficiency  of  this,"  says  one  of  the 
eminent  authorities.  Wherefore  the  States  General  or 
dered  the  system  of  separate  imprisonment,  as  practised 
at  Philadelphia,  with  the  modifications  which  excluded 
solitude,  separating  the  prisoners  from  each  other,  and 
securing  communication  with  good  people.  In  the 
States  General  there  was  only  one  voice  against  this  sys 
tem.  Again  is  our  Report  silent. 

And  lastly,  at  Geneva,  in  Switzerland,  a  plan  of  a 
prison  on  the  Separate  System  was  adopted  in  1842.  I 
have  here  the  atlas  containing  a  full  representation  of 
this  prison  in  all  its  parts.  But  of  this,  too,  our  Eeport 
says  nothing. 

In  view  of  all  these  things,  is  it  not  humiliating  that 
our  Society  should  have  put  forth  the  statement  it  did 
with  regard  to  "  other  countries  "  ?  Most  certainly,  if 


520  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

the  authors  of  the  Eighteenth  Report  were  ignorant  of 
the  extensive  adoption  in  Europe  of  the  Pennsylvania 
System,  their  ignorance  was  reprehensible,  and  not  to 
be  vindicated  by  the  apology  of  the  Secretary,  that  he 
could  not  read  French.  If  uucandidly  they  withheld  or 
suppressed  this  information,  as  I  cannot  suppose,  they 
are  equally  reprehensible. 

Such  is  the  Eighteenth  Report  of  our  Society !  And 
yet  tliis  document,  seamed  and  botched  with  error  and 
uncandid  statement,  injuriously  affecting  the  Pennsyl 
vania  System,  was  sent  by  our  Society,  as  I  have  been 
credibly  informed,  to  every  member  of  the  Legislature 
of  that  State.  Surely  we  need  not  wonder  that  the 
humane  and  upright  gentlemen  connected  with  the 
administration  of  prisons  there  felt  that  we  had  done 
them  wrong. 

A 

II. 

I  NOW  come  to  the  second  proposition  in  the  Report 
and  Resolutions  under  consideration ;  and  here  I  shall 
be  brief.  It  is  proposed  that  we  shall  recognize  the 
directors  of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary  of  Pennsylvania 
as  sincere  fellow-laborers  in  the  cause  of  Prison  Disci 
pline,  and  shall  declare,  that,  if  expressions  have  ap 
peared  in  our  Reports,  or  been  uttered  at  any  of  our 
pul  die  meetings,  which  have  justly  given  pain  to  our 
brethren,  our  Society  sincerely  regrets  them.  Is  not 
this  a  proper  and  most  Christian  resolution  ?  -  "What 
candid  or  generous  mind  can  hesitate  witli  regard  to  it, 
particularly  after  becoming  acquainted  with  the  course 
of  our  Society  towards  those  gentlemen  and  the  system 
they  have  administered  ?  But  here  again  we  encounter 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  521 

the  Treasurer,  the  Achilles  of  this  debate,  according  to 
the  description  of  that  martial  character  by  Horace,  — 

"  Impiger,  iracundus,  mexorabilis,  acer." 

The  Treasurer,  with  passionate  emphasis,  objects  to  any 
expressions  of  confidence  in  the  gentlemen  of  Philadel 
phia.  He  is  not  personally  acquainted  with  all  of  them. 
He  is  conscientious  on  the  point.  He  will  not  commit 
our  tender  Society  by  any  such  extravagant  declaration. 
To  be  sure,  he  made  no  opposition,  when  our  association 
passed  a  formal  vote  in  its  own  favor,  declaring  nothing 
less  than  that  it  was  "  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  eveiy 
friend  of  humanity  for  its  successful  efforts  in  the  cause 
of  Prison  Discipline."  J  It  was  all  right  for  us  to  praise 
ourselves ;  but  the  Treasurer  cannot  praise  the  gentle 
men  of  Philadelphia.  He  never  objected  to  any  of  the 
hard  words  we  have  employed  with  regard  to  them  and 
their  system.  It  is  those  soft  words,  turning  away  wrath, 
which  disturb  his  propriety. 

Then,  again,  he  dislikes  what  he  calls  an  hypotheti 
cal  apology.  He  is  startled  by  the  if.  He  cannot  say, 
"  If  I  have  uttered  words  which  have  justly  given  pain 
to  my  brother,  I  sincerely  regret  it."  There  is  too  much 
for  him  in  that  if.  It  is  no  better  than  but  yet  in 
Shakespeare,  which  was 

0  as  a  gaoler  to  bring  forth 
Some  monstrous  malefactor." 

True  to  its  vocation,  this  little  word  brings  before  the 
Treasurer  a  monstrous  proposition,  which  he  cannot 
receive.  No,  —  he  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it. 
But  his  sudden  sensitiveness  with  regard  to  the  course 
of  the  Society  should  not  prevent  us  from  performing  a 
simple  duty. 

1  Annual  Meeting,  May  80, 188T:  Twelfth  Report. 


522  BIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

IIL 

THE  third  and  last  proposition  involved  in  the  Report 
and  Resolutions  is,  that  our  Society,  by  its  officers  and 
individual  members,  ought  to  strive  for  increased  useful 
ness  ;  and  it  is  particularly  urged  upon  the  Managers  to 
enlist  the  cooperation  of  individual  members.  This,  too, 
is  opposed  violently,  as  if  it  were  not  the  duty  of  all  to 
seek  new  opportunities  of  doing  good.  The  Treasurer,  of 
course,  is  ardent  He  does  not  ask  the  cooperation  of 
others.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  Society,  he  says,  to  act 
by  one  mind  only. 

Look  at  our  grandiose  organization.  "We  have  a  Pres 
ident  with  forty  Vice-Presidents,  —  or,  borrowing  an 
illustration  from  Turkey,  "a  pacha  with  forty  tails." 
Then  we  have  a  large  body  of  foreign  correspondents, 
whose  names  we  print  in  capitals,  —  "fancy  men,"  as 
they  have  been  called,  because  they  are  for  show,  I  sup 
pose,  like  our  Vice-Presidents.  Then  there  are  scores 
of  Directors,  and  a  Board  of  Managers.  Now  I  know 
full  well,  that,  of  these,  very  few  interest  themselves  so 
much  in  our  Society  as  to  attend  its  sessions.  At  the 
meeting  last  year  for  the  choice  of  officers  there  were 
ten  present.  We  ten  chose  the  whole  array  of  Vice- 
Presidents  and  alL  And  then,  too,  the  Secretary  po 
litely  furnished  us  printed  tickets  bearing  their  names 
and  his  own.  Certainly,  Sir,  something  should  be  done 
to  mend  this  matter.  We  must  cease  to  have  so  many 
officers,  or  they  must  participate  actively  in  the  duties 
of  the  Society. 

Look  now  at  our  annual  income.  Notwithstanding 
the  special  pleading  of  the  Treasurer,  I  must  insist  that 
this  is  upwards  of  $  3,000,  derived  partly  from  interest 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  523 

on  our  capital  stock  of  8  7,000,  and  the  remainder  from 
subscriptions  obtained  through  the  solicitations  of  the 
Secretary. 

Mr.  DWICHT.  But  this  is  not  a  permanent  income. 
It  is  derived  from  the  charity  of  Boston. 

Mr.  SUMNER.  And  is  not  the  charity  of  Boston  perma 
nent  ?  I  have  stated  facts  precisely  as  they  are.  Now 
it  becomes  a  society  so  richly  endowed  to  do  much  for 
the  cause  to  which  it  professes  devotion.  It  should 
make  itself  felt  widely,  not  only  in  our  own  State, 
but  wherever  Prison  Discipline  claims  attention. 

But  what  does  it  accomplish?  On  looking  at  its 
journal  for  the  last  three  years,  it  appears  that  the  chief 
business  of  the  Managers,  who  have  met  some  three  or 
four  times  in  the  year  only,  has  been  to  vote  a  salary 
of  seventeen  hundred  dollars  to  the  Secretary,  with  fuel 
and  rent  for  his  office  sometimes,  and  also  to  vote  him  a 
vacation  of  four  months  in  the  country  during  our  pleas 
ant  summers.  This,  certainly,  so  far  as  the  Managers 
are  concerned,  is  not  doing  much  for  Prison  Discipline. 
But  the  Managers  are  responsible  for  the  Annual  Re 
ports  of  the  Society.  I  think  it  may  be  safely  said, 
that,  for  several  years,  our  Society  has  done  little  be 
sides  publishing  these  Reports.  Its  annual  income  and 
the  labors  of  its  official  galaxy  are  all  absorbed  in  these. 
I  would  not  disparage  these  documents ;  but,  professing, 
as  I  do,  some  familiarity  with  the  kind  of  labor  required 
in  their  preparation,  I  cannot  forbear  repeating  what  I 
have  said  before,  that,  if  we  take  our  last  Report  for  an 
example,  one  month  would  be  a  large  allowance  of  time 
for  its  production  by  any  one  competent  man.  But  the 


524  EIYAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE 

Treasurer  says  our  Society  lias  devised  a  plan  for  a  new 
jail  in  Boston,  which  of  itself  is  no  inconsiderable  la 
bor, —  and  the  Treasurer  praises  this  plan.  My  own 
judgment  with  regard  to  it  is  of  very  little  consequence ; 
but  I  have  here  a  letter  from  Dr.  Julius,  of  Prussia, 
one  of  the  highest  living  authorities  on  the  subject,  — 
to  whom  the  plan  has  been  shown,  —  who  expresses  an 
opinion  different  from  that  of  the  Treasurer. 

Certainly,  Sir,  our  Society  must  do  more.  It  becomes 
us  to  imitate  sister  associations  in  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  whose  incomes  are  less  than  ours,  and  whose 
array  of  organization  is  not  so  imposing,  but  who,  by 
committees  and  sub-committees,  and  committees  of 
ladies  too,  make  their  beneficence  practically  felt  by 
those  who  are  in  prison,  while  by  their  influence  they 
•widely  affect  public  opinion.  It  becomes  us  also  to  im 
itate  the  Board  of  Education  in  our  own  Commonwealth, 
^which  not  only  publishes  an  Annual  Report,  but  by  its 
Secretary  makes  annual  visits  to  every  part  of  the  State, 
and  by  lectures  and  speeches,  by  the  glowing  pen  and 
the  living  voice,  arouses  the  indifferent  and  confirms  the 
wavering.  I  trust  soon  to  hear  of  lectures  on  Prison 
Discipline,  and  of  local  societies  under  our  auspices  in 
every  county  of  the  State. 

Ours  is  a  large  and  powerful  organization,  abounding 
in  resources  of  all  kinds,  plenteously  supplied  by  never- 
failing  streams  of  charity.  "NVe  must  administer  it  in 
the  spirit  of  charity,  that  we  may  promote  the  great 
est  good  of  those  who  are  its  objects.  The  contribu 
tions  of  which  we  are  almoners  should  not  run  to 
waste.  All  must  join  in  effort  to  give  them  the  widest 
influence.  All  must  help  place  our  Society  in  cordial 
fellowship  with  other  laborers  in  the  same  pursuits. 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  525 

Let  me  ask  you,  Mr.  President,  to  unite  with  your  hon 
ored  predecessor  [Eev.  Dr.  WAYLAND]  in  promoting  these 
worthy  objects.  Commence  your  new  duties  by  guid 
ing  us  in  a  path  where  we  may  find  that  universal  confi 
dence  now  somewhat  forfeited,  and  where  the  blessings 
of  those  in  prison,  who  have  felt  our  kindness,  may  be 
ours 

I  believe  I  might  leave  the  Eeport  and  Resolutions 
here,  feeling  that  they  stand  on  impregnable  ground. 
But  there  are  two  objections,  each  brought  by  different 
speakers,  which  I  have  reserved  to  the  close  :  one  founded 
on  the  private  character  of  the  Secretary  of  our  Society  ; 
the  other,  on  the  alleged  superiority  of  the  Congregate 
System  over  the  Separate  System. 

In  interposing  the  private  character  of  the  Secretary, 
a  new  issue  is  presented,  entirely  immaterial  to  the 
question  on  the  adoption  of  the  Resolutions,  This  is 
discerned  merely  by  repeating  the  grounds  of  these. 
First,  our  Society  ought  to  be  candid  and  just ;  secondly, 
it  should  offer  a  hand  of  fellowship  to  our  brethren  in 
Philadelphia ;  thirdly,  it  should  be  more  useful.  These 
propositions  are  not  answered,  when  we  declare,  in  elo 
quent  phrase,  that  the  private  character  of  the  Secretary 
is  good.  I,  too,  give  my  homage  to  his  private  charac 
ter.  I  have  never  failed  to  render  my  tribute  to  his 
early  merit  in  founding  and  organizing  this  Society ;  nor 
in  this  discussion,  painful  as  it  has  been,  and  calling  for 
severe  criticism  of  matters  with  which  he  is  intimately 
connected,  have  I  made  any  impeachment  of  the  mo 
tives  by  which  his  course  is  controlled.  It  is  my  ear 
nest  desire,  that  the  Society,  under  his  auspices,  may  be 
more  widely  felt,  and  develop  new  capacities  for  useful- 


526  RIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

The  other  remaining  objection  is,  that  the  Congregate 
System  is  superior  to  the  Separate  System,  and  that  the 
acceptance  of  the  Report  and  Resolutions  will  be  giving 
adhesion  to  the  latter.  This  conclusion  is  not  correct. 
Your  Committee  ask  for  candor  and  justice ;  they  do  not 
ask  for  adhesion  to  any  system.  On  the  contrary,  they 
expressly  disclaim  such  desire.  But  it  may  well  be 
asked  —  and  I  allude  to  this  point  not  because  I  regard 
it  as  material  to  the  issue  —  whether  experience  does 
conclusively  establish  the  superiority  of  the  Congregate 
System.  My  learned  friend  [  Mr.  GRAY]  who  first  in 
troduced  this  topic  founds  his  conclusion  mainly  on  a 
comparison  of  the  prisons  at  Philadelphia  and  Charles- 
town,  where  the  statistics  are  said  to  show  a  much  lar 
ger  proportion  of  mortality  and  insanity  in  the  former 
than  in  the  latter.  Admitting  that  the  statistics  ad 
duced  are  accurate  (and  I  do  not  propose  to  question 
them),  it  is  very  hasty  in  my  friend  to  adopt  his  con 
clusion  with  regard  to  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
two  systems.  In  the  first  place,  the  limited  experience 
of  these  prisons,  or  any  small  number  of  prisons,  may 
be  affected  by  circumstances  irrespective  of  the  two  sys 
tems,  —  as,  for  instance,  their  administration,  which  may 
be  more  or  less  defective.  And  permit  me  to  say,  that 
the  argument  of  my  friend  seems  rather  to  show  a  de 
fect  in  the  administration  of  the  system  at  Philadelphia 
than  in  the  system  itself.  The  system  has  but  one  es 
sential  idea,  the  absolute  separation  of  prisoners  from 
each  other.  But  it  is  said  that  this  cannot  be  practi 
cally  carried  out,  consistently  with  health  of  body  and 
mind.  It  may  be  so.  But  here  the  highest  authorities 
have  affirmed  the  opposite.  The  College  of  Medicine  in 
France,  and  the  Scientific  Congress  at  Padua  in  1843,  and 


RIVAL   SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE.  527 

of  Lucca  in  1844,  pronounce  it  practicable.  But  my 
friend  urges,  that  each  prisoner  should  be  indulged  with 
at  least  two  hours  of  society  daily,  and  that  this  is  im 
practicable.  I  doubt  if  so  much  is  requisite.  But  if 
this  and  much  more  be  needed,  to  secure  for  our  pris 
ons  those  influences  most  conducive  to  the  reformation 
of  offenders,  will  it  not  be  found  ?  There  are  Christian 
clergymen  who  find  time  to  bless  with  their  presence, 
with  prayers  and  texts,  the  gaudy  celebrations  of  mili 
tary  companies ;  there  are  young  men  who  partake  of 
these  pomps.  Cannot  as  many  be  found  who  will  visit 
those  in  prison  ? 

In  the  next  place,  the  conclusion  is  fallacious,  as  it  is 
founded  on  a  comparison  of  prisons  in  different  places, 
under  the  influence  of  different  circumstances  of  climate 
and  situation ;  whereas,  to  render  the  comparison  ex 
act,  it  should  be  between  prisons  in  the  same  place,  and 
under  the  same  circumstances.  This  I  am  enabled  to 
make.  There  are  now  at  Geneva  two  prisons,  one  on 
the  Auburn  System,  built  in  1825,  and  the  other  on  the 
Pennsylvania  System,  built  in  1843.  M.  Ferriere,  the 
chaplain  of  both  these  prisons,  —  and  therefore,  it  must 
be  supposed,  equally  conversant  with  both,  —  presented 
to  the  Penitentiary  Congress  at  Frankfort  a  comparison 
between  these  two,  which  he  states  to  be  in  the  same  lo 
cality,  with  a  unity  of  conditions  in  all  respects,  except 
what  touches  the  system  itself.  He  gives  the  prefer 
ence  in  every  particular  to  the  Pennsylvania  prison,  and 
expressly  declares  that  there  are  always  persons  in  the 
Auburn  prison  who  are  insane,  while,  down  to  the  pres 
ent  time,  there  have  been  none  in  the  other  prison. 

Lastly,  the  conclusion  of  my  friend  is  fallacious,  inas 
much  as  it  is  founded  on  a  too  narrow  induction,  closing 


528  RIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE, 

his  eyes  to  the  experience  of  Europe.  There  is  the 
prison  of  Warsaw,  on  the  Separate  System,  which  has 
been  in  operation  since  1835.  During  the  twelve  years 
since  its  occupation  there  have  been  only  two  cases 
of  mental  alienation,  one  of  which  declared  itself  on 
the  morning  after  the  arrest,  and  the  other  was  caused 
by  too  hasty  treatment  of  the  plica.  In  France,  as  we 
learn  from  an  address  before  the  Penitentiary  Congress, 
there  are  nineteen  prisons  on  the  Separate  System, 
which  have  been  occupied  since  1843.  "  The  experi 
ence,"  it  is  said,  "is  not  of  long  duration,  but  it  is 
sufficient  to  assure  the  spirits  of  the  most  fearful  The 
most  harmonious  unanimity  prevails  in  the  observations 
of  the  physicians.  All  recognize  that  maladies  are  less 
frequent,  and  shorter  in  duration.  It  is  the  same  with 
mental  alienation,  in  the  period  of  one  to  four  years  to 
which  the  observations  relate.  No  cause  of  insanity  is 
attributed  by  the  physicians  to  the  Separate  System, 
as  it  is  practised  in  France,  with  frequent  visits,  labor, 
and  an  hour  at  least  of  exercise  in  the  open  air."  In 
England  there  are  at  this  moment  thirty  prisons  on  the 
Separate  System,  with  thirty-five  hundred  cells,  which 
are  so  successful  in  their  influences  that  upwards  of 
three  thousand  additional  cells  are  to  be  constructed. 
On  the  Continent  there  are  many  directors  of  Auburn 
prisons  who  liave  become  dissatisfied  with  their  opera 
tion,  and  openly  pronounce  in  favor  of  the  Pennsyl 
vania  System.  I  might  dwell  on  the  experience  of 
Europe  till  the  chimes  of  midnight  sounded  in  our 
ears ;  but  I  forbear.  I  cannot  dismiss  this  topic,  how 
ever,  without  alluding  to  one  suggestion,  which  came 
in  such  a  questionable  shape  that  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to 
treat  it. 


EIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  529 

The  sentiment  of  patriotism  is  invoked,  and  we  are 
gravely  told  that  the  reference  to  European  authority 
and  experience  which  has  occurred  in  this  debate  is 
not  consistent  with  a  proper  regard  to  our  own  coun 
try.  It  is  natural,  Sir,  for  us  to  love  our  country,  and 
to  take  pride  in  its  institutions.  Whatever  is  done 
among  us  finds  special  favor,  if  it  be  associated  in  any 
way  with  our  country.  But  this  sentiment  must  not 
become  a  prejudice.  It  must  not  become  a  malign 
influence  to  interrupt  the  course  of  truth,  or  interfere 
with  questions  to  which  it  is  alien.  The  subject  now 
before  us  belongs  to  science  and  philanthropy,  and  I 
have  yet  to  learn  that  the  prejudices  of  patriotism  have 
any  just  foothold  in  these  sacred  demesnes.  Let  us 
welcome  knowledge,  wherever  it  may  be  found.  Hail 
holy  light !  from  whatever  sun  or  star  it  may  pour  upon 
the  eyes,  from  whatever  country  or  clime  it  may  pene 
trate  the  understanding  or  the  heart  I 

Again  let  me  say  that  our  Report  and  Resolutions 
stand  on  impregnable  grounds.  And  now,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  as  I  conclude,  let  me  render  to  you  just  thanks 
for  the  impartiality  and  amenity  with  which  you  have 
presided  over  these  debates,  and  may  these  high  quali 
ties  be  reflected  in  the  future  course  of  our  Society.  Let 
us  all  unite  in  efforts  for  increased  usefulness,  in  har 
mony  with  one  another,  and  with  kindred  associations 
of  our  own  country  and  of  other  lands.  And  if,  from 
the  collisions  of  this  discussion  there  have  been  any 
sparks  of  unkindly  feeling,  may  they  all  be  quenched 
in  the  vote  which  is  now  to  be  taken. 

VOL.    I.  23  Mil 


530  EIVAL  SYSTEMS   OF  PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 


NOTE. 

THE  result  of  these  debates  called  forth  the  following 
letter  from  M.  de  Tocqueville,  of  France,  addressed  to  Mr. 
Sumner. 

[TRANSLATION.] 

MY  DEAR  SIR,  —  I  have  read  in  the  Daily  Advertiser  of 
June  1st  the  account  of  a  meeting  of  the  Boston  Prison 
Discipline  Society,  in  which  you  proposed  a  resolution,  the 
eftect  of  which  was  to  declare  that  this  Society  ought  not  to 
be  considered  "  the  pledged  advocate "  of  the  Auburn  Sys 
tem,  or  of  any  other  system,  and  that  it  should  judge  all 
systems  without  taking  sides  in  advance,  and  without  preju 
dice.  I  have  since  learned,  by  the  same  paper,  that  the 
Society  refused  to  adopt  the  resolution.  This  vote  has  sur 
prised  and  pained  me.  I  take  a  very  lively  interest  in  the 
reform  of  prisons,  and  I  have  always  cherished  a  respectful 
attachment  for  the  Society,  which  has,  of  its  own  accord, 
done  me  the  honor  to  make  roe  one  of  its  members,  and 
which  enjoys  so  just  a  reputation  in  the  philanthropic  world. 
It  is  under  the  influence  of  these  two  sentiments  that  I  feel 
an  impulse  to  write  to  you. 

The  vote  of  which  I  have  spoken  will  cause,  I  do  not  fear 
to  say,  a  painful  surprise  to  almost  all  those  in  Europe  who 
are  devoted  to  the  Prison  question.  They  will  interpret  it 
as  a  solemn  determination  taken  by  the  Society  to  make  it 
self  the  champion  of  the  Auburn  System,  and  the  systemat 
ic  adversary  of  the  Separate  System.  Instead  of  a  judge,  it 
will  seem  to  become  a  party. 

I  need  not  inform  you,  that,  at  the  present  day,  in  Europe, 
discussion  and  experience  have,  on  the  contrary,  led  almost 
all  persons  of  intelligence  to  adopt  the  Separate  System,  and 
to  reject  the  Auburn  System.  Most  of  the  governments  of 


RIVAL  SYSTEMS  07  PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  531 

the  Old  World  have  declared  themselves  more  or  less  in  this 
way,  not  hastily,  but  after  serious  inquiry  and  long  debates. 
I  will  speak  only  of  the  two  great  free  nations  of  Europe,  — 
those  which  I  know  the  best,  and  which  are  the  most  worthy 
of  being  regarded  as  an  authority,  wherever  questions  are  de 
cided  only  after  discussion  before  the  country,  and  obedience 
is  rendered  to  public  opinion  alone,  —  France  and  England. 
Among  these  two  nations,  I  can  assure  you,  the  Auburn 
System  is  almost  universally  rejected.  The  greater  part  of 
those  who  had  previously  inclined  towards  this  system  have 
completely  abandoned  it,  when  they  came  to  discuss  it,  or  to 
see  it  in  operation,  and  have  adopted,  wholly  or  in  part,  the 
system  of  Separate  Imprisonment.  The  two  governments 
have  followed  the  same  tendencies.  You  know  that  the 
French  government  brought  forward,  a  few  years  since,  a  law, 
of  which  separate  imprisonment  formed  the  basis.  This  law 
after  a  discussion  of  five  weeks,  the  longest  and  most  thorough 
which  has  ever  taken  place  in  our  parliament  on  any  ques 
tion,  was  voted  by  an  immense  majority.  If  this  same  law 
has  not  yet  been  discussed  in  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  the  rea 
son  is  to  be  found  in  circumstances  entirely  foreign  to  the 
Penitentiary  Question.  The  Chamber  of  Peers  will  take  it 
into  consideration  at  the  opening  of  the  approaching  session  ; 
and  among  the  most  considerable  men  in  this  Chamber, 
the  greater  part  have  already  pronounced  openly  in  favor  of 
its  principle.  As  to  the  press,  almost  all  the  journals  sus 
tain  the  system  of  Separate  Imprisonment.  The  journal 
which  had  most  skilfully  and  earnestly  combated  the  sys 
tem  has  recently  declared  itself  convinced  of  its  excellence. 
This  change  has  been  produced,  in  part,  by  the  experience 
had  for  many  years  in  a  large  number  of  our  prisons.  In 
deed,  it  may  be  doubted,  whether,  when  the  law  shall  be 
reported  to  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  there  will  be  found  a 
single  person  to  combat  its  principle. 

In  this  state  of  facts  and  opinions,  the  vote  which  a  so- 


532  BIVAL  SYSTEMS  OF  PRISON   DISCIPLINE. 

cietj  so  enlightened  and  celebrated  as  that  of  Boston  has 
just  passed  will  not  be  comprehended  among  us;  and  I  can 
not,  I  confess  to  you,  prevent  myself  from  fearing  that  it 
will  be  injurious  to  the  high  consideration  which  the  Society 
enjoys  on  this  side  of  the  ocean,  or  that,  at  least,  it  will 
weaken  its  authority.  I  should  strongly  regret  this,  not 
only  from  my  interest  in  an  association  to  which  I  have  the 
honor  to  belong,  but  also  from  my  interest  in  humanity, 
whose  cause  it  can  so  powerfully  serve. 

Be  pleased  to  receive,  Sir,  the  assurance  of  my  very  dis 
tinguished  consideration. 

ALEXIS  DE  TOCQUEVILLE, 
Member  of  the  Institute  and  of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies. 

TOCQUEVILLE,  August  6, 1847. 
CHARLES  SUMNER,  Esq.,  Boston. 


THE  LATE  JOSEPH  LEWIS  STACKPOLE,  ESQ. 

ARTICLE  IN  THE  BOSTON  DAILY  ADVERTISER, 
JULY  23,  1847. 


THE  sudden  death  of  Mr.  Stackpole  has  filled  a  large 
circle  of  friends  with  poignant  grief.  His  hale 
and  vigorous  health,  of  which  a  fresh  and  manly  coun 
tenance  and  a  joyous  nature  were  pleasing  tokens, 
seemed  to  give  assurance  that  he  would  long  be  spared 
to  them,  while  the  many  accomplishments  by  which  his 
life  was  adorned,  and  the  kindly  qualities  which  grap 
pled  him  to  their  hearts,  created  attachments  now  too 
rudely  severed.  He  had  stood  aloof  from  public  affairs, 
and  from  those  concerns  of  business  by  which  men 
become  prominent  before  the  world.  The  time  thus 
withdrawn  from  customary  pursuits  was  given  to  fam 
ily  and  friends,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  those  elegant 
tastes  which  add  so  much  to  the  grace  of  society. 

He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  University  in  the  class 
of  1824,  and  afterwards  studied  law.  His  studies  were 
careful  and  thorough.  His  attainments  were  increased 
by  travel  in  Europe.  As  a  member  of  the  Examining 
Committee  on  Modem  Languages  at  the  University,  he 
made  his  excellent  knowledge,  particularly  of  French, 
useful  to  the  community.  Had  his  professional  studies 
been  continued,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  that,  in  some 
departments,  he  would  have  contributed  in  no  humble 
measure  to  the  true  fame  of  his  country.  An  article 


534  THE  LATE  JOSEPH  LEWIS   STACKPOLE. 

in  the  "American  Jurist,"1  entitled  "Customs  and 
Origin  of  Customary  Law,"  written  by  Mr.  Stackpole 
while  still  very  young,  drew  the  attention  of  learned 
men  in  Europe,  as  much,  perhaps,  as  was  ever  done  by 
any  paper  of  mere  jurisprudence  from  our  country.  It 
was  the  subject  of  comment  by  the  late  Professor  Park, 
at  King's  College,  in  one  of  his  public  lectures,  who  read 
extracts  from  it  to  his  classes,  and  it  was  republished 
in  one  of  the  English  law  journals.  This  was  at  a  time 
when  American  productions  found  little  favor  from 
the  mother  country.  Story  and  Kent  had  not  then 
compelled  recognition  of  American  law  within  the  pre 
cincts  of  Westminster  Hall.  This  article  will  be  read 
with  interest  by  students  of  jurisprudence  and  history, 
while  it  must  always  possess  peculiar  attraction,  as 
the  early  offering  of  ingenuous  youth  to  a  stern  profes 
sion  ardently  espoused.  Perhaps  nothing  ever  appeared 
in  our  country,  from  one  equally  young,  evincing  a  finer 
juridical  spirit. 

Mr.  Stackpole  has  been  removed  from  strongest  fam 
ily  ties,  from  a  large  cluster  of  friends,  from  enjoyments 
richly  spread  by  competency  and  taste,  and  from  oppor 
tunities  of  usefulness  which  were  before  him  in  ample 
fields,  while  his  sun  of  life  was  still  high  and  glowing 
in  the  heavens.  He  has  passed  away  as  a  shadow.  Let 
us  clasp  and  hold  fast  the  memory  of  his  virtues. 

l  July,  1880,  Vol.  IV.  pp.  28  -99. 
END  OF  VOLUME  L 


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